The Last Promise
by Theralion
Summary: "Being okay without you around." It's a simple promise for Futaba, but one that becomes difficult for her to fulfill once she falls in love with Akira. So how will she fare once she has no choice but to face this challenge? Camp NaNoWriMo project, Persona 5 spoilers.
1. A Promise Revisited

**The Last Promise**

 _Warning: Persona 5 ending spoilers ahead!_

 **Chapter 1: A Promise Revisited**

 _December 24_

I walked through the streets of Shibuya alone, not feeling as happy about us defeating a malevolent god as I'd hoped. Maybe it was because Morgana, who'd been an important part of our group since the beginning, even if he'd thought otherwise for a little while, had vanished shortly after the battle. Maybe it was because we still didn't know if we'd be able to see Shido- the evil man whose many crimes included having my mom killed- get what he deserved. Or maybe it was because I wasn't with Akira Kurusu, my boyfriend, the leader of the Phantom Thieves, and the person most precious to me.

A little less than four months ago, I, with Akira's help, had made a promise list of various tasks to work on, so that I could go back to school. With his help, I'd completed all of them- returning to Akihabara, visiting Shujin Academy, learning more about my generation, having a conversation with a stranger my age and even fulfilling the one promise I'd left unfulfilled from my mom's promise notes- except for one.

It was a simple one- "Being okay without you around," but it was also the hardest, kind of like a boss in an RPG that only has the basic attack but has super high stats and HP. I'd gone through my entire life without having Akira around, so why was it so hard to be without him? The answer was simple-I'd fallen in love with him. The only question was whether he felt the same way, and luckily for me, his answer was yes.

Of course, the last two months were nothing if not hectic. Our country's law enforcement agencies wanted us in prison, and a government conspiracy wanted us dead. The only way to uncover the true identities of those who were plotting to use the mental shutdown incidents for personal gain required Akira to fake his death, and the only way to ensure that the public would hold Shido accountable involved reaching Mementos' depths and stealing its treasure. The Metaverse was gone, and I hoped that meant that our battles would be, too, so that I could enjoy Christmas Eve with my boyfriend.

Once I got to a relatively quiet spot, I took out my cell phone and called Sojiro, my late mom's close friend and my adoptive dad, to make sure he was all right even after the chaos that had gripped the city. He picked up almost instantly, probably knowing how much he'd scared me when Akira and I got home to a ransacked Leblanc with him nowhere to be found.

"It's me," Sojiro said. "You OK, Futaba?"

"That's my line, Sojiro," I said. "I was really worried about you."

"Oh, yeah," Sojiro said. "What happened was really crazy, what with the red sky, raining blood and all, but it looks like the Phantom Thieves put a stop to it."

"We sure did," I said. "All that's left is to take care of Shido."

"Right," Sojiro said. "Head on home when you can."

"Gotcha," I said, before hanging up.

I then decided to rectify my being alone on Christmas, and sent a text message to Akira, telling him that Sojiro- who'd started out as his probation officer, but eventually became just as much a dad to him as to me- was OK, and asking him to spend Christmas with me.

About a minute or so passed without a response from Akira, and my heart started pounding. Usually, he was pretty good about responding immediately, so I wondered what was taking him so long. We'd devoted the entire day to stealing Mementos' treasure before anyone could take action against us, and now that we had succeeded, our schedules were clear- or at least, they should have been.

Finally, he sent a text message saying, "Sure," and my heart nearly leaped out of my chest. Luckily, I managed to calm down in time, and arranged to meet with him at the statue of Buchiko. I quickly headed over there, eagerly awaiting the fun Christmas date both of us deserved after everything we'd overcome today.

* * *

Standing at the statue of Buchiko, I checked the inscription, and saw that he'd continued waiting for his owner even after the old man died. It was a heartwarming tale of animal loyalty, but at some point, you have to move on. It was hard accepting that my mom was dead, but by doing so and overcoming my guilt, I now had a dad, a boyfriend and many other friends.

As Akira approached, I waved him over.

"Thanks for coming, Akira," I said.

"Not a problem, Futaba," Akira said. "There's no way I'd miss spending tonight with you."

I grinned. I didn't have the guts to make a straightforward love confession, so I asked him why he was so nice to me. Akira was a nice guy who'd helped out a lot of people, but in my case, it was because he was in love with me.

"Gotcha," I said. "Welp, let's go get something to eat first."

We walked around the city, and saw long lines at every single place that had fried chicken or cake. Apparently, the fact that the world almost ended tonight didn't do much to deter people from getting out to celebrate Christmas. All my time as a shut-in must have caused me to underestimate just how large Tokyo really was- when big cities in RPGs have, at most, a few dozen NPCs, it's clear that they don't do the real thing justice.

"Sorry, Futaba, but it looks like we won't be eating out tonight," Akira said, "unless Leblanc counts, of course."

"Fine," I said, a bit annoyed.

It was disappointing, but I convinced myself that there would be all sorts of opportunities to do this later with Akira. What I didn't know was that Akira was treating this night together as if it were our last. I wish I'd realized this sooner, but in hindsight, maybe it was his intention that I didn't.

* * *

We got on the subway and headed back to Leblanc- thankfully, not too many people were ready to go home yet. Once we got in, Akira cooked up some curry for the two of us. A turkey might've been nice, but Sojiro didn't have the money for that, so curry had to do. Still, once I tasted the curry- Akira's tasted like Sojiro's, which tasted like Mom's- I couldn't really complain.

After eating, we went upstairs to Akira's room in the attic. For a place that used to be a storeroom less than a year ago, it was surprisingly clean, at least compared to how my room used to be.

"Here, I've got a gift for you," I said, and brought out some headphones that I'd bought. While Akira was back at school and taking exams, I'd taken a third solo outing to Akihabara and bought a pair that was the same brand I used.

"Thank you," Akira said.

"Great," I said. "The sound quality's real impressive, and..."

I gushed about the technical specs of the headphones for several minutes, while Akira listened attentively, and pretended that he was following all that. I was really happy that Akira was happy with his gift, but no matter what I did, the nagging feeling wouldn't go away.

"You know..." I said, "even if we've changed the public's hearts, we've still got to deal with Shido, right?"

"Yeah," Akira said. "Makoto's sister's on the case, though."

"I know," I said. "But she needs evidence, right? So how's she gonna get that if the Metaverse doesn't exist anymore?"

Akira remained silent. Maybe he didn't know the answer to that question... or maybe he did, and it wasn't one that I'd like. He was always good at keeping morale high even when things looked bad, but maybe doing so now was beyond his ability.

After a long pause, Akira sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Akira said.

I was thrown for a moment. Why was Akira apologizing for our present circumstances? We'd done as much as we could, and I believed I could trust Sae Niijima, but did Akira know something I didn't?

"Huh?" I said.

"Never mind," Akira said.

That answer only made me worry more. The simplest way to deceive people was to not say more than you needed to, so that you wouldn't have to say something totally false or end up contradicting yourself. That said, it was also easy to read between the lines and find the truth based on what the liar didn't say- in this case, it was clear that Akira knew something about the case that I didn't, and he was keeping it from me.

I checked my watch.

"I've got to go home," I said.

"All right," Akira said. "I'll walk you back if you like."

I shook my head. Even when I was still a shut-in, I could walk the distance from my house to Leblanc in order to deliver the calling card for Akira to pick up, so walking back by myself was nothing I couldn't handle.

"I'll be fine," I said, and got up to leave.

I took a few steps toward the stairs leading down to Leblanc, and stopped in my tracks.

"I know you're keeping something from me," I said. "I just wish you could trust me enough to tell me what."

Akira remained silent. The way I'd phrased it was too blunt to be easily answered, and it was more of an accusation than a question.

"Good night," I said.

Somehow, even though leaving Akira behind was harder than ever, I did so anyway- I had to. The situation was getting too tense and awkward, and I no longer wanted to be there. Perhaps Akira would be ready to tell me the truth later... if I ever saw him again.

* * *

I tossed and turned in my bed. Usually, sleep came easily to me, back when I wanted nothing more than to dream about my mother- maybe a bit too easily, considering how quickly I tired out- but even though I was exhausted after an extremely long day, I couldn't fall asleep at all.

I'd heard that it was natural for people to have arguments with their lovers or spouses, and the only question was whether it was often or bad enough that it was no longer a good relationship. In my case, I still loved Akira, and wasn't even angry at him- I was simply worried, and hoped that he could make things better, like he often did. Maybe he already had.

I eventually dozed off, probably because I was too tired to keep up even the unconscious effort of staying awake in bed, and drifted into a dreamless slumber. The last clear thought I had was the hope that when I woke up, everything would be all right, and I could enjoy another celebration with my boyfriend and those who had helped save this world.

* * *

 _December 25_

The next morning, I woke up even later than usual. I was never much of a morning person, even before I stopped attending school and having reason to wake up in the morning, and this time, just as my going to sleep was dictated by my body, so too was my waking up.

I quickly got dressed and set out for Leblanc. We'd promised to meet up there on Christmas Day, and I hoped that someone would have some good news.

When I got there, I saw Makoto had already arrived, and was sitting in one of the booths near the back. Sojiro stood behind the counter, with a despairing look on his face. He usually didn't take not having customers on Christmas Day this badly, so something had happened.

"Hey, where's Akira?" I said, loudly enough that it would wake him up if he were sleping in the attic.

Makoto looked at Sojiro, who shook his head.

"He wasn't in when I got here," Sojiro said. "I know he doesn't like to have to do the dishes, but..."

Makoto's cell phone rang, cutting off Sojiro's lame attempt at a joke to lighten the mood. She looked at the caller ID, apparently expecting a call.

"It's my sister," Makoto said, before picking it up. "Hi, Sis ... I'm at Leblanc, with Boss and Futaba. The others aren't here yet."

A long pause followed, and Makoto's eyes widened

"Wait, are you serious?!" Makoto said. "Akira did WHAT?!"

I was tempted to point out that Sae was always serious, to the point that Makoto seemed easygoing in comparison. But now wasn't the time, and I was desperate to find out what she'd told Makoto.

"What's this about Akira?" I said.

"Sorry, Futaba wants to know what's going on," Makoto said. "Tell her the truth, but please... be mindful of her feelings."

After another pause, Makoto handed the phone to me, and I lifted it to my ear, as I sat down at the counter.

"Futaba-chan?" Sae said. "Are you there?"

"Yeah," I said. "What's this about Akira?"

Sae sighed.

"Last night, just after all of you parted ways, I met with Akira-kun," Sae said. "I explained to him the harsh but necessary truth- that even though Shido could now be tried, we needed a witness to testify about his crimes. With Akechi missing, that role fell to Akira-kun, and he accepted."

"That's good, right?" I said. "If Akira's testifying, then Shido's definitely gonna be found guilty, right?"

"I'm fairly confident about that," Sae said, "but that isn't the problem. Testifying requires Akira-kun to admit to being the leader of the Phantom Thieves, and thus, in violation of his probation. I'm sorry... but to ensure that Shido goes to prison, Akira-kun will be going to juvenile hall."

"Juvenile hall?!" I said. "That's not fair!"

"No, it isn't," Sae said, "but in a bad situation, Akira-kun chose the best possible option, for the sake of protecting those important to him and accomplishing the mission you all undertook together."

"Akira..." I said, and broke down in tears. My words and emotional self-control failed me, and all I could do was cry like a small child. The last time that had happened was when Sojiro had confronted me about the calling card in my room, but Akira had taken over, explained everything and helped get Soiro on our side. This time, it was Sojiro's turn to step in.

Sojiro walked up, laid a comforting hand on my shoulder, and took the phone from me.

"It's me," Sojiro said. "I got the gist of it from hearing Futaba and your sister."

A short pause followed.

"No, don't apologize," Sojiro said. "I kept telling him to stay out of trouble, but I'm actually glad he went and did this. The only one who deserves to be punished is the guy who killed Wakaba."

Another pause happened, and I could only guess what Sae was saying- that she intended to ensure Shido got what he deserved.

"Yeah, I'm counting on you," Sojiro said. "Well, I'll hand it back to your sister now."

Sojiro walked over and handed the phone to Makoto.

"Sis? It's Makoto," Makoto said, before pausing, likely to listen to another of Sae's apologies. "No, I don't think you did anything wrong. It's just hard to accept right now." Another pause followed. "Don't worry, I'll tell the others. I'll talk to you later, Sis."

Makoto then hung up, and sat there, at a loss for words.

"All I wanted was for Akira to get through his probation without any problems," Sojiro said. "At first, I thought I needed to be a hardass to him, but then I realized he wasn't such a bad kid, and just needed an adult who he could depend on, and who'd show him the right thing to do. But to think that by doing the right thing, he'd end up like this..."

Just after that, the rest of our friends- Ryuji, Ann, Haru and Yusuke(or Inari, as I called him)- showed up. Ryuji was just as oblivious to the mood as he was when he casually waltzed up to us after nearly dying in a giant explosion, while Haru and the others seemed to notice something was up. Once Sojiro explained it to them, they didn't take it any better than I did, but didn't have any ideas at first. The only option was to overturn his sentence, but in a country where securing acquittals was extremely hard, overturning a conviction was probably all but impossible.

Then, a seemingly innocent question caused us to have a burst of inspiration- what would Morgana do here? He went almost everywhere with Akira, so he was in some ways closer to our leader than the rest of us, myself included, were, so he'd likely know how best to help Akira. He was the core of our group, who taught us about the Metaverse and gave the Thieves the knowledge of how to steal hearts, so maybe he'd figure out something. He always laughed at us when we didn't get certain things, so I was sure he'd find us all pretty pathetic right now.

We promised to meet again another time. Like it or not, we weren't going to free Akira overnight, especially not when everyone else was having just as hard a time with the news as I was. Maybe they weren't in love with him, but they also considered him an important person, and would have to live without him as long as he was imprisoned.

* * *

After everyone left, Sojiro sat down across from me in the center booth. Normally, customers would be sitting there, but one plus side of having a struggling cafe owner as an adoptive dad was that we had a free meeting spot.

"Is something the matter, Futaba?" Sojiro said. "Well, apart from the obvious."

I sighed. I wasn't ready to tell Sojiro about the fact that I was going out with Akira, but it was clear that he was important enough to me that there wasn't any point in hiding it.

"How to put this...?" I said. "Remember those promise lists Mom used to make for me?"

"Yeah," Sojiro said. "I was a bit unsure of whether to do them with you, since it might seem like I was trying too hard to be just like Wakaba, and I don't exactly have the cash for a good reward. That said, I'm glad you're thinking of them."

There was a time when any reminder of Mom- from her curry to the way she raised her daughter- only caused me pain, but luckily, I was past that. Mom might be gone, but her daughter was still alive, her curry was being served at Leblanc and I hoped that one day, her research into cognitive psience would help people.

"Akira and I did one together," I said, "as a way of helping me get ready to go back to school. There was one promise we didn't get to, though, and that was being okay without him around."

I could tell that Sojiro got it pretty much immediately.

"And now, like it or not, you've got to do that one anyway," Sojiro said. "Life has a way of separating you from your loved ones."

I couldn't say anything, and only nodded, since I felt bad for whining about this in front of Sojiro. He'd always loved Mom, and now he had to deal with Akira going to juvenile detention for doing the right thing. Then again, maybe because he'd gone through something like what I had, he knew how I felt.

"Still, just because people come and go doesn't mean you have to deal with it alone," Sojiro said. "Akira and the others helped you deal with Wakaba's passing, and now, it's my turn to help you out."

I smiled, only a little relieved. There had to be something we could do for Akira, but for now, going through life without him seemed to be a little more bearable. I didn't want to have to go through this- or at least, wanted a little more time to prepare myself- but there was no point in complaining about what could be changed. I could learn to live without him, and once he was back with us, that would be all the reward I'd need for the last promise on my list.

* * *

 **Author's Notes  
**

Here's my project for Camp NaNoWrimo of July 2017, a story covering how Futaba fares while being separated from Akira after the final battle, being forced to do the one item on her promise list she least wanted to tackle.

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo is a project in which writers have a month to complete a 50,000 word novel (although the exact total can vary based on the kind of project), and it generally takes place in November, but also has "camps" held in other months, such as July.

Futaba's inner monologue can be a bit of a challenge to write. In-game, she speaks in slang and gaming lingo in relatively lighthearted scenes, and speaks in a more serious and formal manner in serious ones.

I may be running into some canon scenes, but I'll skip over them or rewrite them with unique dialogue, since this is supposed to be my fanfic.


	2. A Spark of Hope

**Chapter 2: A Spark of Hope  
**

 _December 26_

The day after Christmas came. Usually, I'd feel a bit sad, but this year's Christmas was so disappointing that I wanted a do-over.

More than anything, it really hit me that Akira wouldn't be coming back today or any time soon, just like I'd realized the day after my mom's death that the woman who'd given birth to and raised me was gone forever. In this case, while I had to accept that death was final, we could get Akira back. I wanted him back and I wanted him soon- both for his sake and because I wanted to be with him- so this spark of hope tormented me as much as it encouraged me.

* * *

I had breakfast with Sojiro at Leblanc- he got up and went to work too early to eat at the house with a late riser like me. Even if I couldn't share my meals with Akira, I'd made a tradition out of going out to Leblanc to eat, if only to get out of my room. These days, I didn't do much in there apart from sleeping and working on my computer.

"Hey, Sojiro, if Christmas Eve's the day before Christmas, then what's the day after it?" I said after wolfing down my curry.

"Boxing Day," Sojiro said. "One of my customers last year was a guy who went abroad for work, and he told me a little about that holiday. Anyway, why do you ask?"

"Oh, so it's nothing major," I said. "I was wondering why hardly anyone was coming in."

"No real reason," Sojiro said. "Just another day at this run-down coffee shop. I might blame the weather, the time of year and the competition, but they're all little more than excuses."

A few minutes after Sojiro finished washing my plate and spoon- the kind of job he usually palmed off on Akira- the door opened and Sae Niijima walked in, dressed in her usual dark pantsuit. Given that she wore the same thing day in and day out, I sometimes wondered if public prosecutors had to wear a uniform.

Sae sat down and ordered a house blend.

"So, how's the case going?" I said.

"I can't say too much," Sae said, "but you shouldn't expect any real progress so soon. We only got permission to go ahead with prosecuting Shido yesterday, after all."

"Oh," I said.

"As for Akira-kun, he's been transported to juvenile hall by now," Sae said. "I'm sorry, but given how busy he is with questioning and other things, it doesn't seem as though they're allowing him to have visitors."

My heart sank. Akira deserved his freedom, but even if he couldn't have that, he deserved a lot of other things- to see his friends, have a friendly conversation with someone who wasn't trying to get him to incriminate himself, have a decent meal, and all sorts of other things. I was fine with not getting a reward for our activities as Phantom Thieves, but there wasn't any justice in this.

"Sheesh, and I thought the attic was bad," Sojiro said. "Besides, I only put him up there to make sure Futaba and I had the house to ourselves."

I felt even worse because of that. Akira might've started off as a houseguest, but he should've at least had a room in our house, rather than sleeping above Leblanc. By now, he was as much a part of Sojiro's family as I was, so he deserved to be treated that way.

Perhaps noticing my discomfort, Sae decided to change the subject.

"This isn't why I'm here, though," Sae said, "I have something I'd like to discuss with you and Boss, now that only the two of you are here."

"What's that?" I said.

"To begin with, I'd like to apologize again for threatening to revoke Boss' parental authority," Sae said. "Regardless of what I did or did not know, or what I was trying to do, I had no right to use that as leverage in order to gain information."

Sojiro paused expectantly. He and Sae had started to trust each other now that they were accomplices in sheltering Akira, and both wanted to find the truth behind Mom's death, but he hadn't completely forgiven her.

"That's not all, is it?" Soijro said.

"No," Sae said. "I may have been out of line back then, but everything I said about how Futaba-chan's living situation- not leaving the house, much less going to school- would be unlikely to be viewed favorably still applies."

Sojiro sighed deeply, then nodded. As hard as it was for him to admit it, she had a point.

"I know," Sojiro said. "In fact, Futaba's uncle, Youji Isshiki- a lowlife gambling addict who'd abused Futaba and was trying to shake me down- said the exact same thing. He even tried to frame Akira for hitting him and reported us to the family court, so they sent two investigators over."

"What happened?" Sae said.

"Luckily, they were a reasonable pair," Sojiro said. "The guy in charge of the pair realized that Isshiki was lying, and while his subordinate had her doubts about just taking our word for it, she was willing to trust her boss's judgment."

"That's good," Sae said, smiling warmly.

"Of course, even if Isshiki was a money-grubbing scumbag and a hypocrite, he made me ask myself some uncomfortable questions," Sojjiro said. "Am I really the best person to raise Futaba? Akira, your sister and the others were the ones who brought her out of her depression, not me."

"I actually know what you mean," Sae said. "I've been Makoto's legal guardian since our father died, and apart from bringing in a paycheck, all I could do for her was nag her about her studies, instilling in her the same cynical and competitive worldview that I had. I even resented her for being a burden."

I shook my head.

"You know, Makoto actually knew she was dependent on you, and tried as hard as she did so she'd become more independent- she did a lot more than I did," I said. "She cared for you a lot, and found it hard to go against you, even if we needed her to do so. So don't be too hard on her for stealing data from your laptop- I kinda pressured her into doing it."

Sae nodded somberly, before giving a faint smile.

"I know," Sae said, "I'm truly grateful that Makoto never gave up on me, no matter how many reasons I gave for her to do so."

I smiled. Sojiro had to give up a lot of money for me- more than most parents do for their kids- and all for a daughter who didn't do much to repay him, so I was always grateful for him.

"But back to the matter at hand," Sae said. "Futaba-chan, this may be asking a lot, but I believe it would be best if you return to school next year. Getting an education will open many doors to you, and will help prevent other people from calling your father's fitness as a parent into question, for good reasons or bad."

I wondered if Makoto had told Sae about the unpleasant memories I had of school, which I relived when she gave me a tour of Shujin Academy. Then again, I suppose it didn't matter. Sae, for all she could be obsessed with success at her worst, struck me as a disciplined individual who knew that it wasn't possible to succeed without sticking to your pursuits even when you wanted to quit.

"I got it," I said. "School wasn't very pleasant even though getting good grades was a piece of cake, but life involves taking the bad with the good, so I'll face it head-on."

"Well said," Sae said.

"Futaba's come a long way since the end of August," Sojiro said. "If she'd been cooped up in her room when the investigators came, the family court wouldn't have shown me any mercy. They're fair, not soft, but I think things turned out for the best."

"So do I," Sae said. "I have to be going, but I'm looking forward to hearing more about Futaba-chan's progress."

I waved goodbye to Sae as she paid and left, leaving something big unsaid. Considering that I wasn't able to bear the hallucinations of my mother and everyone else blaming me for her death by the time I contacted the Phantom Thieves, I might have ended up taking my own life if I hadn't gotten help. Of course, while I could trust Sojiro with almost anything now, I didn't want to burden him with the knowledge that I was practically suicidal, and he couldn't have done anything to help me.

There was also one other thing that I was keeping from him- the fact that I was going out with Akira. He wasn't the only one I hadn't told- it was secret from the other Phantom Thieves, since the last thing we needed during the turbulent last three months of this year was some relationship-based drama. As for Sojiro, he was essentially my dad, and I knew how dads felt about thir little girls falling in love. Akira might have earned Sojiro's respect and trust, but getting his blessing for our relationship was another thing. He might try to nip it in the bud, and what better opportunity would there be than Akira being in juvenile hall for an indeterminate amount of time?

* * *

I called Makoto in the evening and told her what I'd talked about. She was hardly surprised at the lack of news about Akira, but she was happy to hear about Sae.

"That's good to hear," Makoto said, "but regarding my relationship with my sister, there's one thing I'd like to add."

"What's that?" I said.

"It's true that my sister became colder, more distant and more obsessed with success since our father died," I said, "but I also distanced myself from her, too. I stopped relying on her. I didn't tell her about my investigating the Phantom Thieves or Kaneshiro because I didn't want her to worry about me. We stopped talking about difficult subjects, simply because neither of us wanted to get into an argument."

"Well, that's not exactly fun," I said. "Inari and I butt heads a lot, but it's all in good fun."

"I know, but avoiding conflict is no way to go about social interactions," Makoto said. "As I started spending time with all of you, I was amazed by how open you were with each other, and that you trusted and were honest with one another, even if you didn't always agree. My sister might not always be available, but we've been talking a lot more, mending fences and becoming closer than ever."

When Makoto put it like that, I felt a little guilty. The day after my uncle tried to hit me, Akira and I went to Mementos to change his heart, but without any of the others. The things my uncle did to me- putting me down, blaming me for my mom's death, depriving me of necessities and even hitting me- were enough to warrant a change of heart, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to the other Phantom Thieves about him.

"Is something wrong, Futaba?" Makoto said.

"Nothing," I said.

A twinge of guilt went through me as I told Makoto the same lie Akira had told me two nights ago. Forced to choose between hurting my friends' feeling with an unpleasant truth and doing the same thing by keeping it from them, I no longer had any right to judge Akira for choosing the latter. All I could do for now was hastily change the subject and hope Makoto didn't try to press me.

"Speaking of your sis," I said, "she said that Akira would go free if we overturned his conviction, didn't she?"

"She did," Makoto said, "but she also said that it wouldn't be an easy task. We'll have to prove that a court system that only has one acquittal in a thousand cases made a mistake, and find the truth that professional investigators couldn't- or _didn't want to-_ bring to light."

"Yeah," I said, somewhat discouraged.

It was a lot easier to beat rotten adults in battle in the Metaverse than to prove their wrongdoing in the system they set up. I'd thought about it a little, and concluded that Shadow Sae's cheating wasn't as much because she believes the ends justify the means as it was because she believed that was how the system worked.

"But even so," Makoto said, "I want to succeed- for Akira's sake, for the sake of the better world we want to create and to prove to my sister that justice can prevail."

"So do I," I said. "Let's look into this a bit more."

Even though each moment that passed was another moment that Akira languished in juvenile hall longer than he deserved to, this was too difficult and important to rush things. We needed many things- a plan, evidence and a lot of popular support- and for now, we only had the beginnings of an idea of how to get them.

* * *

 _January 31_

A few days passed without much happening, except for the remaining members of our group meeting up in Shibuya for New Year's Eve. It was frustrating not being able to do anything for our leader, but like Sae said, nothing was going to happen overnight.

We knew what we had to do- prove that Akira had never committed the crime that had gotten him put on probation in the first place- but the only thing we knew about that was that it was a task too great for six teenagers. Akira had allies throughout the city, but most of them were pariahs like us, with little chance of getting anyone important to listen to them.

At the same time, we had somewhere to start, a bit like how in a dungeon full of locked doors, there might be one that you can open, which leads you onward to the keys you need to unlock the rest of the labyrinth. The truth was on our side, and while getting people to see it was the hard part, we knew where to begin and where we wanted to go, so the only question was how to get there.

* * *

 **Author's Notes  
**

Thank you for the favorites and follows.

Part of this fic will involve Futaba opening up a bit more to the rest of the Phantom Thieves and sharing some things that only Akira had heard before. Having other friends will make Akira's absence somewhat easier, and the experience will cause Futaba to get closer to the ones she has.

I'm not 100 percent sure about the "no visitors" part, but given that no one seems to have seen Akira between Christmas Eve and Valentine's Day, that seems to be the case.

It's worth noting that Sae and Youji Isshiki do have a point about Futaba's living situation being unacceptable, even if they bring it up in the service of an ulterior motive. One fascinating part about the Futaba/Medjed arc is that a first-time player might suspect that Sojiro might be abusing Futaba.

NaNoWriMo projects involve varying degrees of planning. In this case, I admit that while I know how this will start and end, and the general course of the plot, I haven't necessarily nailed down all the details just yet.


	3. A Request For Help

**Chapter 3: A Request For Help  
**

 _January 1_

We decided to go out and gather all the help that we could. Trouble is,we weren't the most well-connected of individuals, and most of us could count our non-Phantom Thief friends on one hand- one finger, in my case. We were a bunch of outcasts who kept people at a distance, whether because our peers shunned us or because we didn't see much point in letting people get close, and we had that in common with the vast majority of our few friends.

My old friend Kana-chan was the perfect example. Back in elementary school, she'd been bullied, just like I had been, so I was honestly surprised when she said "Good morning" to me right out of the blue. We became friends soon after I got over that and started talking to her, which is why it was such a shame when I ruined it all.

One windy day, I'd accidentally gotten a peek at her diary, which talked about how her parents abused her. I couldn't ignore my friend when she was suffering, so I decided to ask her about it, but this involved admitting that I'd read something that was supposed to be a secret and violated her privacy. She'd gotten angry at me- understandably so- but I couldn't even give her the apology she deserved until years later, after the rest of the Phantom Thieves and I stole her parents' hearts.

* * *

 _October 12_

A few days after stealing the Magarios' hearts, I sat in my room in the afternoon, with a complete but unsent email to Kana-chan. It was long, rambling and essentially took too long to get to the point- that I wanted to talk again like old times. Luckily, though, before long, Kana-chan apparently got the point and sent a reply.

 _Wow, Futaba-chan, it's been a while! Wanna talk like old times?_

I sent a reply.

 _Sure do. What's your contact info?  
_

Kana-chan responded immediately with her phone number, which I dialed. She picked up immediately, having used her phone to text me.

"Hello, Futaba-chan?" Kana-chan said.

"It's me, Kana-chan," I said. "It's been what? Five, six years?"

"Yeah," Kana-chan said. "Since we were in Ms. Urashima's class together."

We made small talk about elementary school for a few minutes, which helped bring back some good memories.

Finally, I got to the hard part. I'd changed Kana-chan's parents' hearts, not her own heart, so I was worried about whether she'd accept my apology.

"Listen, Kana-chan," I said, "I called because I wanted to apologize after all these years. I'm so sorry I read your diary back on that windy day."

Kana-chan paused. I couldn't tell if she was making up her mind whether to forgive me, but it seemed like a good thing- after all, you don't just offer forgiveness for something like this on a whim or to be nice. She'd said "good morning" with me because she wanted to be friends with me, so I hoped that if she forgave me, it was because she sincerely wanted to be friends again.

"I actually should be the one apologizing, Futaba-chan," Kana-chan said. "I was pretty mean to you back then, all because I was scared that you'd hate me if you found out about my home life."

I was taken off guard for a moment. I wasn't expecting Kana-chan to say something like this, since back then, she'd gotten angry with me for invading her privacy. Could it be that all this time, she'd been as scared to face me as I'd been to face her?

"How could I possibly hate you for that?" I said. "The only ones who did anything wrong were your parents."

Kana-chan paused, probably not expecting my reaction any more than I expected hers.

"Maybe that's the wrong word," Kana-chan said. "I was scared that things wouldn't be the same between us because you knew. It looks like that happened anyway, didn't it?"

"But not because I found out," I said. "I actually kind of get where you're coming from- stuff like that isn't easy to talk about."

In the years since Kana-chan and I drifted apart, I eventually came to understand why she felt the way she did, especially after my experience living with my uncle. I might give Sojiro a lot of grief, but I'll always be grateful to him for taking me in, and for being one of the few people besides Akira I could talk with about my uncle. Because of that, I learned that there are some things people don't talk about until they're ready to do so, and I decided my next move was to see whether Kana-chan was willing to talk about her parents.

"This might not be any of my business," I said, "but how are things with your parents?"

Kana-chan didn't answer for a few moments. I was a bit worried about how she'd react or what her answer would be, but I had to know. After President Okumura had a mental shutdown and died the previous night, I had to make sure that Kana-chan's parents didn't suffer the same fate. Both Okumura and the Magarios were terrible parents, but none of them deserved to die.

"I'm glad you asked," Kana-chan said. "Things got a lot worse for a while- my parents made me model in weird clothes to pay off their gambling debts."

"How dare they!" I said. I wasn't even trying to pretend I'd just heard- I really was that angry to be reminded of it.

"But yesterday, the strangest thing happened," Kana-chan said. "They actually apologized to me, and said they'd get jobs to pay back their debts."

"Great!" I said.

"I suppose it is," Kana-chan said. "Of course, we might not have the money to send me to school, considering our situation. Besides, it's hard for me to forgive them at this point, especially considering they only changed because of the Phantom Thieves."

I couldn't blame her, since I felt the same way about my uncle. Of course, after the Magarios' Shadows were defeated, they seemed genuinely remorseful- perhaps a part of them did actually care for Kana-chan, before they became distorted, even if the change of heart had been forced on them.

"One thing, surprised me, though," Kana-chan said. "It's that the Phantom Thieves listened to my request, considering I didn't put my parents' names on the post I made."

"Well, if you did that, then anyone would know that you did it," I said. "If you wrote, 'Please change the hearts of my parents, Kouta and Asami Magario,' you might as well have signed it, 'Sincerely, Kana Magario.'"

Now that I thought about it, not many people asked for the Phantom Thieves' help in family situations. When I looked at Mishima's website, Haru's request for someone to change her father's heart was simply written as someone who accused Okumura of exploiting his workers, and anyone would suspect that it was one of the man's disgruntled employees. Considering what Kana-chan said, I had to wonder whether it was because they didn't want to put information about private family matters on the internet, because anonymity wouldn't help much if only family member were privy to the probelm.

"I gotcha," Kana-chan said. "I've got to go for now, since I have an interview for a part-time job, but i'll talk to you later, Futaba-chan."

"See you around, Kana-chan," I said.

Times were difficult right now and would get a lot tougher before we started making progress on taking down the masterminds behind the conspiracy, but for now, it was nice to have good news in this dark time.

* * *

 _January 1_

In the morning, my phone rang, and, checking the caller ID, I was thrilled to see it was Kana-chan, once again. We often sent emails, but only occasionally called, so each phone conversation was a special occasion.

"Happy New Year's, Futaba-chan!" Kana-chan said.

"Yeah, Happy New Year's, Kana-chan," I said, less enthusiastically. Haru was skipping the New Year's greetings because she was in mourning for her dad, but I didn't think anyone else in our group was exactly at 100 percent, either.

"Is something wrong?" Kana-chan said. "You seem down."

I took a deep breath. Now was as good a time as any to get to what I wanted to tell to her.

"It's about a friend of mine," I said. "His name's Akira Kurusu, and he's the guy who gave me the courage to call and apologize to you in October."

"Sounds like a stand-up guy," Kana-chan said.

"Well, he's also on probation for a crime he didn't commit," I said, "and since he ended up violating it while doing the right thing, he's now in juvenile hall. I wanna do something to help him, but there's not much I can do by myself."

"So you need other people, right?" Kana-chan said. "Well, I'm just a middle school graduate with a part-time job who doesn't even have the power to oppose her own parents. There isn't much someone like me can do alone."

"I know," I said. "That's why I'm hoping you can ask other people to help, who'll in turn ask other people to help. We're gonna need a lot of people to even have a chance at making this work, but every person counts."

Kana-chan didn't even hesitate.

"Count me in," Kana-chan said.

"Thanks, Kana-chan!" I said. "Because of you, I'll have something good to report to my other friends."

"Great," Kana-chan said. "I'll talk to you later, Fuaba-chan."

* * *

In the evening, we met at Leblanc to have a strategy meeting with the others. Sae promised to stop by some time, but was running late.

"I spoke with my sister today," Makoto said. "She can't help us directly, since she's involved with prosecuting Shido, but she can offer advice and support- like I said earlier, she'll be in fairly soon to speak with us about a few things."

"Fine by me," I said. "I talked with an old friend of mine today, but while she said she'd try to get support in Kansai, she couldn't promise much."

It was kinda embarrassing coming up almost empty-handed, but no one seemed to mind.

"Today, I met with Takakura-san, the new president of Okumura Foods," Haru said. "He promised to pass on the word to some of my father's associates and see if he could enlist their help."

Okumura's personality aside, I had to wonder whether, once you become powerful enough, you stop thinking of people as friends, since hardly anyone's equal to you. The thought was really depressing, even if I didn't have all that many friends at any point in my life.

"I talked with Kawanabe-san," Yusuke said. "The art world tends to stay out of politics, but he decided to consider my request and do whatever was in his power to help."

"I've got a modeling shoot next week," Ann said. "I might be able to get the word out in the press."

I felt a bit inadequate. The results weren't anything impressive so far, but pretty much everyone else had something to show for their efforts than I did. At this rate, even Ryuji, who'd only just barely gotten onto speaking terms with his former track teammates, would probably outdo me.

"I saw Mishima in Shibuya today," Ryuji said. "He was in the crosswalk, askin' for people's signatures."

"In person?" I said, acting on my instincts as an internet-savvy former shut-in. "Doesn't he have his website?"

"He does," Makoto said, "but actual petitions are more effective than ones on the internet."

"I get that," I said. "I just thought he'd have a better idea than just standing there and asking random strangers to help him. Anyone can do that... well, _almost_ anyone."

"Maybe, but that's the cool thing," Ryuji said. "Anyone can do something like that, but almost nobody actually does. No one's gonna remember Mishima as the guy who saved Akira, but when all this is over, I think Akira's gonna owe Mishima some thanks, just like everyone else who helped him."

That meant a lot coming from Ryuji. His self-esteem was probably the worst out of all of us, as a former track team runner who couldn't even run very well anymore, thus causing a lot of people to see him as a troublemaker with bad grades. That meant he was the most vulnerable to being tempted by wanting to feel like a hero, but he also had a lot of empathy for people like him.

"Indeed," Makoto said. "Everyone, your hard work is appreciated, and continuing to recruit others will help a great deal in the struggle to secure Akira's freedom, even if it doesn't seem to be doing any good right now."

Everyone silently concurred. This was a more time-consuming, difficult and less immediately gratifying method of social reform than stealing people's hearts was, but perhaps this had a better chance of enacting meaningful change, so we were willing to stick with it, even if it didn't seem to be paying off.

Sae walked in the door to Leblanc. She took a seat at the counter, near the door, and it was clear that she wasn't planning on staying long.

"Hi, Sis," Makoto said.

"Hello, everyone," Sae said. "How have things been going?"

"It's kind of a slow start," Ryuji said. "There's not many people besides us who want to see Akira go free, but we're gonna change that, right?"

"You said it," Ann said. "One of the reasons I continued on as a Phantom Thief was to give people the courage they need to stand up to those in power, but we don't have to be Phantom Thieves to do that."

"Good to hear," Sae said. "Of course, it would also help if you have authority figures you can count on, which is why I'm working to secure Shido's conviction."

As much as most of us had a grudge against various rotten adults, we all had to admit that there were ones who helped us, too. I had Mom and Sojiro, and I suppose many of my other friends could say the same about various people in their lives.

"This may sound like a pointless question," Sae said, changing the subject, "but is there any chance of Akechi turning up? Some people in the police have started looking for him, albeit as a missing person, rather than a suspect."

We looked at each other, and shook our heads.

"Back when we were infiltrating Shido's palace, we ran into Akechi," I said. "He went on and on about how he was Shido's bastard kid, and he was planning on betraying Shido just after the election in order to take his revenge. He tried to kill us, but we were able to beat him."

"So did he fall in battle against you?" Sae said. "Or might he have succumbed to his wounds?"

I shook my head.

"He wasn't able to fight back anymore, but wasn't in any danger of dying," I said, "so we decided to ask for his help in taking Shido down. Unfortunately, a cognitive version of him appeared, but unlike the version of that guy in your palace, this one was bad news. He told us Shido wasnted to kill Akechi once he wasn't useful anymore. Akechi shot a switch, I heard the sound of gunshots, then couldn't sense Akechi anymore."

As everyone else silently concurred with my account, Sae sighed.

"So you didn't see his body or obtain any proof of his death," Sae said. "I believe you, Futaba-chan, but none of this is conclusive evidence of Akechi's death."

"Well, if we can believe him, there's no way he'd have let Shido get off scot-free," I said. "He trusted us to succeed in his stead, but only after he realized that the only way for us to escape would be by leaving him behnd.

Now that I thought about it, the only lies Akechi had told us were ones related to his plan, and even those often had a grain of truth to them. He might have been lying about wanting to help us capture the truth culprit, but he was right about how we weren't guilty of killing Okumura and the others- he was.

"Besides, it'd be simpler if he's dead, y'know?" Ryuji said. "It ain't like we can just go back to the way it was when we pretended to trust him."

"My relationship with Akechi-kun was complicated in the best of times," Makoto said. "He frequently got under my skin by comparing me to Sis, and I couldn't help but feel jealous of his talent and the trust Sis had in him."

Sae shook her head.

"I think 'trust' might be the wrong word, Makoto," Sae said. "It's true that I was willing to allow Akechi the almost unheard-of privilege of investigating a serious crime as a minor, but we didn't particularly get along, questioning my judgment at times, like pressuring Boss. In hindsight, it was hardly surprising that he withheld evidence on you all, or infiltrated you without telling me."

"This, coming from the one responsible for orphaning Futaba and Haru?" Makoto said.

I couldn't help but agree. Sae wasn't a saint, but she deserved better than to be judged by someone like Akechi. We'd succeeded in getting her to come to her senses before she could do anything unforgivable, but Akechi had crossed that line long before we met him. It was hard to accept, but I think he knew it himself, and maybe that's why he could accept his fate.

"True," Sae said. "Still, while he was around me, he wore a facade of being a law-abiding 'Detective Prince', and if he couldn't abide the Phantom Thieves' actions, he couldn't abide mine, either. At times, it can be hard to tell where someone's 'socially acceptable' persona ends and where their true self begins."

Sae's remark, while on point, was only scratching the surface. Even if Akechi had been "solving" all the crimes he himself caused, he'd created a "character" that appealed to the public. He was a genius at selling himself and talented in so many other ways that it was a tragedy that he used those talents to get revenge on his father, instead of deciding his own fate.

"In any case," Sae said, "I think Akechi showed more of his true self around all of you, especially Akira-kun. He may have betrayed and tried to kill you, but in the end, all of you meant something to him, a meaning that no one else ever came close to having."

"I know," Haru said. "While I cannot forgive Akechi-kun for killing my father, I can understand why he chose the path that he did."

"I'm with Haru," I said. "Back when I started out as a Phantom Thief, I hated the guy who killed my mother, but now that I think about it, his circumstances aren't too different than mine. Of course, Akechi's also responsible for his choices, and while I consider that I might've turned out like him, I can't condone what he did, either."

"Nor should you," Inari said. "While I have come to terms with my feelings about Madarame, and recognized that some of his kindness toward me was genuine, I must also realize that he wronged me and many others, and cannot view either aspect of him without considering the other. The same goes for Akechi, our erstwhile companion. Perhaps we felt kinship for him, or at least pity, but since we were not the only ones who suffered at his hands, forgiving him is not solely our decision."

"I get that," Ryuji said. "Still, when I heard the gunshots and everything went quiet after that, I wasn't thinking about all the people Akechi killed, but how much it sucks to go out that way. Akechi might've been our enemy, but he was also one of us- back then, we didn't see an enemy die, but lost one of the Phantom Thieves."

Nobody argued with Ryuji, not even those who needled him for all the boneheaded things he said and did. Akechi wasn't the only one who felt something for his enemies, and even if we'd always known he was a murderer who was planning to betray us, we couldn't help but also see him as a friend.

"Well said," Sae said. "Akechi and I may not have been close professionally, let alone personally, despite working on the same case for over half a year, but I honestly wish I'd known him better."

The room went silent at that, and our discussion had essentially run its course. Sae had essentially given voice to what we'd wanted- to have Akechi as our friend in a world in which he was alive and had never chosen to cause other people suffering in order to relieve his own.

Sae checked her watch. Being a public prosecutor sounded like it required serious time management skills, and I wondered if her checking in with us took more time than she could afford to spend.

"I have to head back," Sae said. "One more thing, though- not only do I hope you succeed in freeing Akira-kun, but I suspect that it might be what Akechi-kun wanted."

"Ah, yes," Makoto said. "To have Shido brought down by one of the victims of his own wrongdoing..."

Makoto stopped short, and her face lit up in a bout of inspiration.

"Ah, yes," Makoto said. "We could find _her_... the woman Akira saved that night."

"That may prove difficult," Inari said. "Not only did he likely never meet her before, but her name was kept confidential. Apart from that, the fact that she lied and betrayed Akira to save herself does not speak well of her moral character."

Inari's remark was pretty blunt, since one thing we'd learned was that it wasn't exactly easy to oppose rotten adults who had positions of great power. Still, as Phantom Thieves who'd risked our freedom and our lives to bring people like them down, we couldn't help but see people like her as not much better than the people we targeted.

"Maybe not," Makoto said. "Still, we're not necessarily appealing to her sense of morality here. If Shido is convicted, he can no longer threaten her, and she has no love for him after what he tried to do to her."

Makoto was right. All of Akira's friends had something to gain from interacting with him, and offered him various deals- in exchange for his help, they'd offer him various information and other services.

"It sounds as though you know where to begin," Sae said. "As much as it sounds like a platitude, I'm honestly rooting for you kids."

I thought about Akechi, trapped behind the bulkhead door, with Shadows and a hostile cognitive version of him on his side and the only people who could save him on the other. Having saved us from what would likely be a hopeless battle, he could only trust in us to bring Shido down in his stead. Maybe it was a little selfish, but it was born out of honest trust in us, and that's why I didn't mind Sae's offer of support. Just like back then, all we could do was see to it that our supporters' hopes became reality by accomplishing our shared goal.

* * *

 **Author's Notes  
**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

It's worth noting that Kana is partially to blame for the breakup in her friendship with Futaba, for yelling at Futaba and running away.

I'm taking some liberties with when various people go out to gather help- the in-game dates in the montage may not necessarily match when I have them pitching in during my fic.

Speaking of liberties, I also made Futaba's Mementos mission possible a little ahead of schedule, since in game, you can't steal the Magarios' hearts until after Adyeshach opens up (which is after Okumura's deadline), thus preventing you from getting to the end stages of Futaba's (as well as Shinya's) Confidant until late October at earliest.

I was considering discussing Akechi's fate at some point, and it seemed to fit best in the point at which they were still looking for people. As Futaba pointed out, had Akechi lived, he likely would have done everything in his power to ensure that Shido got what he deserved, including testifying about his own role in Shido's plans.

I found Mishima's plea for help to be one of the more moving and personal parts of the montage, particularly "He's my best friend!". He's probably the most ordinary of the Confidants, and has struggled with being seen as a "zero," but he's still doing what he can to help out.


	4. A Promising Lead

**Chapter 4: A Promising Lead  
**

 _January 2_

I did some digging into Akira's case, after Ryuji, Ann and Inari provided me with all the information Akira remembered. While it was dark enough that he didn't remember Shido's name or face until much later, he still remembered the day, the time and even the part of town where the incident occurred, so I at least had something to start with.

While the name of the woman Akira saved wasn't publicly released, that didn't mean the police didn't keep it around, so some cracking allowed me to find it. Her name was Sanae Mitamura, and while there weren't any other details listed, there wasn't any doubt that she was the woman we were looking for. That was enough for now, or at the very least, that was as much as I could get through my research.

If we were still in business as the Phantom Thieves, we'd have Mishima make a post on his website, accusing her of her crimes- giving a false testimony to protect herself and helping Shido illegally raise funds- before setting out to Mementos to change her heart. That was no longer an option, though, so we now had to work within the system.

Of course, there was one piece of data missing- where to contact Mitamura. She probably was the sort who didn't want to be found, especially considering the type of guy Shido was, so she probably moved and might've changed her name. By comparison, Kana-chan had gone to middle school in her new town, even if not many people knew her well, so she was easier to track down. Besides, Kana-chan was happy that I found her, whereas this woman would likely be unhappy to see us- and not without good reason, since we were going force her to own up to how she'd betrayed and lied about our leader. We'd have to find a way to convince her to help us, but first, we'd have to find her.

* * *

 _January 3_

I called Ann to tell her the news, and because I had an idea that involved her.

"You're sure about this, Futaba?" Ann said. The fact that there was a witness to Akira's "crime" was old news for her, but the fact that we knew the woman's name wasn't.

"Ninety-nine point nine percent," I said. "Problem is, I'm not even fifty percent sure where she is _now_."

"Well, that's a lot more than what I've uncovered so far," Ann said. "So why are you calling me?"

"I'm thinking about talking to an old friend of mine who lives in Kansai to see if Mitamura lives anywhere nearby," I said. "You said you had a friend who transferred out... Shiho, was it?"

Shiho's name had come up in our conversations a few times, so I asked about her. Apparently, what Kamoshida did to her was so terrible that she almost killed herself, and that the founding members of the Phantom Thieves decided that the only solution was to steal his heart.

"Yeah, that's her," Ann said. "She's not particularly good at detective work, or anything similar to that, but I'll look into asking her. She and Akira didn't talk much, but they got along pretty well, so I'm sure she'd be willing to help."

"Thanks, Ann," I said. "It's a bit of a long shot, but every bit helps."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Ann said. "I'll pass the news along to Makoto and the others."

"Great," I said. "Talk to you later."

I sent out IMs to everyone else, and by the evening, everyone I knew except for Sojiro had heard the news. We weren't making much progress, but this was the best news we'd had since Christmas Eve, so I hoped that if nothing else, this would tide us over until the next time we accomplished something significant.

* * *

 _January 5_

When I went to Leblanc for breakfast, Sojiro was already there, but seemed like he was in a bad mood. After I finished the curry and Sojiro did the dishes, he checked his watch, muttering "Already?" to himself, before looking up at me.

"I've got to get going," Sojiro said. "They're calling me in for questioning about Akira."

"Go for it," I said as I flashed him an encouraging thumbs up. "After they hear from you, they'll be sure he didn't do anything wrong."

Sojiro shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate my support, but that I was expecting something he couldn't promise.

"I'm gonna be honest," Sojiro said. "Best-case scenario is that they don't get any evidence out of me. Worst-case scenario is they find some sort of probation violation to pin on Akira based on what I say."

The way Sojiro put it was pretty depressing. We'd become Phantom Thieves because we couldn't count on any of the adults in charge of society, who held all the cards and too often, let that power go to their heads. Stealing hearts was only addressing the symptom of the problem, but we'd hoped that doing so often enough would help encourage the oppressed and strike fear into the oppressors, thereby bringing about a better world. With Mementos gone, so too was our hope of changing the world this way, but there were certain adults we could count on, like Sojiro and Sae.

Unfortunately, even if there were adults we could trust, we had to deal with everyone else. Sojiro would be forced to answer questions posed by a detective who cared less about justice than about getting Akira found guilty, while Sae, despite having come to her senses, would not be able to help out. The ones in charge of Akira's fate seemed to be the ones least concerned about fairness or his well-being, and worst of all, we'd have to convince people like them that we were right and that Akira was, in fact, innocent.

Sojiro, realizing that he was running late even though he didn't particularly want to go, said "See ya," and waved as he walked out, shutting the door behind him and flipping Leblanc's sign to "Closed." As far as goodbyes went, this was fairly awkward, but both of us knew this was one day when both of us would've rather had him stay behind and tend to the shop.

* * *

A couple hours later, Sojiro got back, in time to open up his shop. I sat in Leblanc, using my laptop to search for information on Mitamura- the only difference between when I started and when I finished was the time on my laptop's clock.

"I'm back," Sojiro said.

"How'd it go?" I said.

Sojiro chuckled softly. I couldn't tell if that meant it was good or so bad he didn't even want to say it.

"The cop who was questioning me didn't seem to like me, and even accused me of being 'uncooperative' at a few points," Sojiro said. "I'd say it went pretty damn well- he clearly doesn't have anything on Akira just yet."

"Oh," I said. "That's good."

"Come on, try to be a little happy," Sojiro said.

"I am," I said. "But it's like you said, Sojiro- you managed to stop things from getting worse for Akira, but I'm not having much luck making things better."

"Oh, that woman?" Sojiro said. "I'm surprised you could find her name, but actually finding the woman herself's more of a job for a private eye than a hacker."

I sighed. Akira knew all sorts of people- from little kids to adults, from students to professionals with degrees, from law-abiding citizens to criminals and all sorts off other people, but I couldn't think of anyone with the skillset Sojiro had in mind.

"And, of course, none of those guys are interested in helping us," I said.

"That didn't stop you in the past," Sojiro said. "You went out and found out information about all those criminals and their wrongdoing, didn't you?"

Even though Sojiro only found out about us being Phantom Thieves at the end of October, there were plenty of other changes of heart besides our main targets. Akira and Mishima had done a lot of the legwork in those cases, but unfortunately, Akira was in juvie and Mishima hadn't found anything yet.

Still, we'd often gotten stuck at times- from supernatural problems like finding a target's keywords or getting through a trap in a palace, to ordinary ones, like dealing with someone who knows too much about us or finding clues about someone's wrongdoing. When we were, we only had to put our heads together to find the solution, so maybe Sojiro was right. Maybe even if this problem was too difficult for any of us, it wasn't too hard for _all_ of us.

* * *

 _January 7  
_

A few days passed, and we continued exploring all our various avenues- stirring up popular support, looking for clues on Akira's case and seeing what other possible solutions were available. The first option was going fairly well, although it was hard to tell how close we were to actually making a difference. The second option was the most promising, but since we weren't having any luck with Mitamura, we weren't getting anywhere. As for the third option, we'd come up with all sorts of crazy ideas- from threatening to steal the hearts of certain government officials if they didn't release Akira to sneaking Akira out of prison after replacing him with a look-alike- but none that would actually work.

During one particularly unproductive session, Makoto noticed that we were starting to lose focus and spoke up.

"This is off-topic, but I've been wondering something for a while," Makoto said. "How did you find out Kaneshiro's name?"

Haru and I, who were sitting across from Makoto at the booth, looked around at Ann, who was sitting to Makoto's left, and Ryuji and Inari, who were sitting at the counter.

"Back when we were looking into Madarame, we met up with this reporter, Ichiiko Ohya," Ann said. "We didn't think too much about her, until we had to take down Kaneshiro, and we were running out of time to find his name to put into the Nav app."

"I see," Makoto said. "I'm sorry I put pressure on you back then- I should've realized that if there was a loathsome criminal exploiting minors, the Phantom Thieves wouldn't take half measures to find and bring them to justice."

"Well, that's what you wanted to find out, right?" Ann said, and Makoto nodded. "I thought so. We might've started off on the wrong foot, but I'm glad you trusted us enough to give us that chance."

I'd heard a little about how Makoto and Ann initially didn't get along, so it was nice to see that they'd become friends by the time I met them.

"Anyway, me and Akira went to Shinjuku to meet this Ohya lady after we finally managed to reach her, and she told us about Kaneshiro," Ryuji said. "I, uh... didn't wanna go back, but Akira kept going on to meet her, to get the Phantom Thieves' name out there."

"Interesting," Makoto said. "Perhaps we should contact Ohya-san and see if she can look into this for us."

"A wise choice," Inari said. "We may not be pressed for time, but no other options are apparent to us, so exploring this one seems to be the best course of action."

While I was in a hurry to get my boyfriend out of juvie, I was glad that we weren't pressed for time. Our days as the Phantom Thieves, as fulfilling as they were, involved racing against the clock- Medjed's "cleanse," Haru moving in with her fiance, Leblanc being investigated and Shido being elected- anxiously waiting for the results, then dealing with what happened next. Akira would be in there for a long time, but that meant that we had that much more time to find a solution to our problem.

Makoto then sent an email to Ohya. Within a few minutes, she got a reply.

"That was quick," Makoto said. "It appears Ohya-san has already responded."

"What'd she say?" I said.

Makoto checked her phone and started reading aloud.

"If it's for Kurusu-kun, I owe him one- well, more than one," Makoto- or should I say Ohya- said. "We can discuss the details in person tomorrow night."

"Uh, who's 'we'?" Ryuji said, unusually nervous for some reason.

"I should go, since I made the arrangement with Ohya-san" Makoto said. "Futaba, this may be asking a lot, but it might be best if you could accompany me, since you're the one that found Mitamura-san's name. Besides, I'd rather not go to Shinjuku alone."

"All right," I said. "I'll go, even if something tells me that Shinjuku isn't the kind of place for a girl like me."

"That 'something' would be countless rumors and news articles," Inari said, sounding like a real know-it-all. "If going to meet with Ohya advances our efforts to secure Akira's release, I believe it will be a prudent choice, but I must urge you to exercise the utmost caution."

"We will," Makoto said.

I was a bit nervous, but, like always, I thought of it in video game terms. The Shinjuku dungeon was a step up from Akihabara, but I'd gained some levels since then and wasn't soloing it- I had Makoto, who had my smarts and a lot more social skills. She was there for me the same way Akira had been, and now that I thought about it, the same went for all the other former Phantom Thieves. Once I remembered that, and all the things we'd accomplished together, nothing seemed impossible anymore.

* * *

 _January 8_

Makoto and I went to Shinjuku together, but before we left, she laid down the ground rules. The first was not to come wearing a school uniform, which was kinda a moot point for someone who hadn't yet gotten back to school- although Sojiro had just placed an order for one. The second was to stay with her at all times, since Shinjuku was not a safe place to be separated. I couldn't help but get a little nervous- I still wasn't entirely comfortable around strangers, but that was a fear I had to overcome each time I went out. It was another thing entirely to know that my fear was completely justified.

We went inside the Crossroads bar, which was just as deserted as Leblanc was most of the time my friends weren't there, probably because it was before it got crowded. A man (or was it a woman?) in a kimono was tending a bar, and a woman in a T-shirt ad jeans with a camera, who was probably Ohya, sat at a stool.

"More kids?" the bartender said. It was obvious that weren't really the sort who belonged in a place like this, since there weren't a lot of things we could legally partake in, so that kind of reaction was understandable.

"Relax, Lala-chan," Ohya said. "It seems the three of us have a mutual friend."

Ohya's words were a bit slurred, and I could smell the alcohol on her breath, so she'd probably had a few drinks. It made me wonder- was this really the person Makoto had talked to yesterday? Could she really help us?

"Indeed," Makoto said. "My name is Makoto Niijima, and this is Futaba Sakura. Both of us are friends of Akira Kurusu, and are looking for your help in securing his freedom by overturning a false accusation against him."

"I'm gonna be honest with you," Ohya said. "It won't be easy. My friend Kayo, a photographer, was investigating one of Shido's confidants when everything went to shit. The guy turned up dead, and she suffered a mental shutdown."

"She's not..." I said.

"The good news is that Kayo's still alive," Ohya said. "The bad news, is that she's barely responsive and is the prime suspect in killing the guy, even though there isn't a chance in hell that she'd do it."

I completely believed her. Not only did I know all about the use of mental shutdowns as a means of disposing of one's enemies- by killing them or framing them for crimes- but I knew that Shido was the kind who'd dispose of anyone who was more useful dead than alive. He'd done it to Shujin's principal, Okumura, the SIU director and even his son (albeit indirectly).

"My point is that Kayo and Kurusu-kun are both important to me," Ohya said, "so if I'm fighting tooth and nail to clear Kayo's name and haven't succeeded yet, that should tell you about how hard it'll be to get Kurusu-kun off."

As much as Ohya struck me as an alcoholic, she also seemed like the type who'd give her A-game in a pinch, a bit like a special ability that activates when you're low on health, so I could believe her.

"Both Futaba and I understand that exonerating Akira will not be an easy task," Makoto said, and I nodded to concur. "However, we have a piece of information that we believe will expedite the process."

"I know of a woman named Sanae Mitamura," I said, "who gave false testimony incriminating Akira."

I proceeded to tell Ohya everything I'd learned about Mitamura, no matter how minor or trivial it seemed. I gave the caveat that all this might not be true anymore, but Ohya didn't seem daunted at all.

"Gotcha," Ohya said. "I'll head over and look into it when I have time."

"Thank you very much, Ohya-san," Makoto said. "I realize that you're busy with your work and helping your friend, but this would mean a lot to us, and to Akira."

"Well, it's because of Kurusu-kun that I'm actually free to help Kayo," Ohya said. "He helped me a lot- changing my boss's heart, giving me information for an article, and even pretending to be my boyfriend."

"What was that?" I said.

"My boss got suspicious about us getting together, so Kurusu-kun pretended to be my boyfriend," Ohya said. "His acting could've used some work, and it probably wasn't the best idea to say I was going out with a minor, but it bought me some time, even if he didn't enjoy it."

"Ah, yes," Makoto said. "Akira did the same thing for me at my request. Back then, I was trying to help a friend of mine- no one you've met, Futaba- with a problem relating to her boyfriend. My friend wasn't particularly convinced, but she did find him fairly charming. Maybe in another lifetime, Akira might've been a good boyfriend, but in this one, I'm glad to have him as a dear friend."

The bartender's brow furrowed. Apparently, Makoto's business with this friend of hers and her boyfriend was somehow familiar.

My heart raced for a little bit. Had Akira been merely pretending to be my boyfriend all along? He'd put on an act for Makoto and Ohya, so might he have done so for me?

I quickly put that out of my mind. Akira was always the sort who helped other people, so he couldn't say no to either of those two. Besides, even if Akira outwardly pretended to be their boyfriend, an outsider probably wouldn't see us as a very romantic couple, even if we weren't trying to hide it. We didn't do much traditional boyfriend-girlfriend stuff, like eating out or going to the movies together(apart from seeing Back to the Ninja before we started going out), and the only things we'd done in our bedrooms were talk and play video games.

"Is something wrong, Futaba?" Makoto said.

"N-nothing," I said. It was only half a lie, since I remembered that I could trust Akira, but I couldn't tell Makoto without spilling the beans about my going out with Akira. Not only was I not ready to tell her, but there was also the fact that she used to like Akira.

"If you're worried about your friend, don't," Ohya said. "He's honest, if nothing else, and definitely not the person who deserves all the crap he's been given."

"Oh, I agree," Makoto said. "It's getting late, but please contact us when you have information."

"Will do, Niijima-san," Ohya said. "I swear on my honor as a journalist."

"I'm looking forward to it," Makoto said. "Let's go, Futaba."

Makoto and I left the bar feeling satisfied. We now had a way forward, even if it was a long and arduous path in which we were largely dependent on others. Problems never seemed quite as difficult when you were doing something about them, so while freeing Akira would likely require a great deal of time and effort with no guarantee of success, I refused to write it off as impossible.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

As I said before, the details may not precisely match the brief scene with Makoto talking on the phone with someone (possibly Ann, considering that Makoto mentions Shiho).

Ohya might not be the most popular Confidant, but considering that she investigates Akira's hometown and the people who testified in his trial, she's probably one of the more useful ones for securing his innocence (although the Phantom Thieves succeed with or without her).

While stealing the public's treasure ensured that Shido would stand trial and thwarted Yaldabaoth's plans, it also merely restored the pre-Phantom Thieves status quo, albeit with a good number of distorted individuals having their hearts changed. In some ways, overturning Akira's conviction will be the Phantom Thieves' most difficult battle yet, which is one of the things I wanted to show in this fanfic.


	5. A Day Off

**Chapter 5: A Day Off**

 _January 20_

We met at Leblanc to discuss our progress. For some reason, Makoto looked kind of uncomfortable- something was bothering her but she wasn't ready to say what.

"How's things going with the reporter?" Ryuji said.

"Ohya-san just recently was able to make time to visit Akira's hometown," Makoto said. "She's found some people who are willing to say that Akira isn't the type who would assault Shido, but no one who can actually prove that. As for Mitamura-san... Ohya-san hasn't had any luck with her."

"For real?" Ryuji said. "Ain't there anything we can do to make it go faster?'

Ann shook her head.

"Not really," Ann said. "We could go out and gather signatures for petitions calling for Akira's release, but a lot of people are doing that. I've heard that more people are joining us, including the doctor with the clinic in Yongen-jaya, the fortune teller in Shinjuku, that politician guy who's been giving speeches in Shibuya and 'The King' of Gun About."

It was a motley collection of individuals, but so were we. Still, it actually seemed like we were making some headway on the popular front, even if none of the people who we'd won over seemed to have much of a say regarding what to do with Akira.

"In other words, everyone is trying their hardest," Haru said. "That's quite an encouraging sign."

Makoto nodded, but didn't seem entirely happy about it. Maybe it was because she was thinking in terms of practicality, or maybe she knew something that she hadn't told us just yet.

"I suppose that's good to hear," Makoto said. "It'll make what I have to say next somewhat easier to hear."

"What's that?" Ann said, almost a nervous about it as I was.

"I spoke with my sister," Makoto said. "She said things were going well with Shido, and that it's possible people might be willing to consider taking a second look at Akira's case. That said, she did ask me to tell you that while it's admirable that we're helping our friend, we do have responsibilities of our own- namely, keeping up with our studies. She's pleased that Haru and I have been studying together, but she's a bit concerned about the second-years, since exams are coming up fairly soon."

It was clear that Sae meant "Ryuji and Ann," and with good reason. Ryuji was generally lucky to pass his classes, and while Ann was good at English, she didn't have good or even halfway decent grades in her other subjects.

"Eff that," Ryuji said. "Doesn't Miss Prosecutor know it's hard for me to keep focused even in normal times?"

I was tempted to say, "Probably not." During the time Sae was cooperating with us, things were really desperate, and everyone was giving 110 percent, so she didn't really know how we were during less intense periods. Of course, Makoto probably would've exasperatedly replied with, "You're not helping, Futaba," so I kept my mouth shut.

"She figured you'd say that," Makoto said, "so she told me to ask you this. 'Would Akira-kun, who sacrificed himself for his friends, be fine with his friends neglecting their studies for his sake?'"

Ryuji went silent. He wasn't all that bright, but he was hot-headed and stubborn, so he was almost always able to come up with some kind of counter-argument, even if he was shooting from the hip.

"What about you, Mako-chan?" Haru said.

Makoto seemed a bit pained. She was probably the most mature and realistic of all of us, but in the end, she wanted what we wanted, and was frustrated that we were having this much trouble getting it.

"I want to see Akira go free as much as anyone here does," Makoto said, "but we need to think practically. The process could take months, if not years, and our lives won't simply be on hold through it all. Even Akira's apparently keeping up with his studies, and I've heard that at the very least, he'll be able to complete his second year."

The others seemed a little relieved, but not fully convinced.

"As for me..." Makoto said, "Akira helped me graduate from being a mere rule-abiding honor student, but he also rekindled my passion for studying by reminding me of my dream of joining the police. I owe it to him and myself to work as hard as I can toward that goal."

Ryuji sighed and nodded.

"Fine," Ryuji said. "Just don't expect great or even halfway decent grades outta me."

"Yeah, there's no sense in hoping for the impossible," Ann said, a remark that I wasn't sure was more for Ryuji or herself.

"It seems some things never change..." Inari said.

"Maybe you should think about it differently," Haru said. "By working hard now, you're taking a break and allowing yourself to focus on something else."

The others nodded. Haru apparently didn't have any problems as far as grads went, even if she wasn't at the top of her class like Makoto was, so she had a fairly good work ethic. I had to respect that even after what happened to her dad, she kept focused and actually did a decent job on exams.

"Welp, I've been studying for high school entrance exams all this time, so no problem here."

Makoto sighed. When she'd shown me around the school a few months ago, she'd learned that while classes were easy for me, getting along with friends my age was much harder than usual.

"About that..." Makoto said, "there's something I've been meaning to ask. Apart from your outings with us, how often have you been getting out?"

"Sometimes," I said.

While I no longer wanted to while away the days alone in my room, spending them alone in public wasn't all that much better. Of course, with Mom dead, Sojiro busy with his cafe, Kana-chan living in Kansai, Akira in juvie and the other Thieves trying to free Akira, I didn't really have anyone else I enjoyed going out with.

"I see," Makoto said. "I'm just reminded of something I've always wanted to do with you but haven't had time- to take you out to see nature. Would you be willing to come with me to Inokashira Park after school tomorrow?"

I remembered one time, while we were exploring Mementos, when I casually mentioned that surfing the internet while in Mementos was, for me, an outdoor activity. Makoto was polite enough to keep her disbelief to herself, and instead suggested that she show me the real outdoors some time. Now, the time had come for me to take her up on her offer.

"All right," I said.

"I suppose Akira will be happy to hear of you continuing to broaden your horizons," Makoto said, "and that the rest of us are doing well in our studies. Akira was the one who helped me remember the dream that motivated me to worked so hard at school in the first place, so I owe it to him and to myself to make that dream a reality."

"So do I," Haru said. "Akira-kun didn't laugh when I said my dream to open a cafe like this one was 'boring,' but instead encouraged me, and offered to be my first customer. I hope that he'll be a free man when that time comes, but I also have to make that work out."

Upon hearing Makoto and Haru, even those who'd balked at studying couldn't argue any longer. We'd done what we could for Akira for now, so now the time had come to think about ourselves.

* * *

 _January 21_

After school let out, Makoto and I met up at Inokashira Park. She was still wearing her uniform, while I was wearing my winter casual clothes- for midwinter, it wasn't all that cold out, so we didn't really need to wear a coat.

"Have you ever been here before, Futaba?" Makoto said.

I nodded.

"A while back, I went to a park with Mom and Sojiro," I said. "Last year, I also came here once with Akira."

"I see," Makoto said, somewhat uncomfortable, worried that she was dredging up unpleasant memories when the opposite was true.

"Hey, don't worry about it," I said. "It's one of several things I used to like but haven't done in a while. Besides, this is a great way to go out without having many people around."

Before long, we saw a girl wearing a blue blazer, a black and white striped neck ribbon, a white dress shirt and a dark skirt. It was Kosei High School's uniform, but it looked way different from Inari's.

"Niijima-san?" the girl said, surprised.

"Ah, nice seeing you here, Hifumi," Makoto said. "This is Futaba Sakura, a friend who's taking a walk with me. Futaba, this is Hifumi Togo, a professional shogi player and Kosei high school student."

"It's nice to meet you," Hifumi and I said to each other. Hifumi bowed, and, after a moment, I tried to follow suit.

"So you play shogi as a pro?" I said. "That sounds pretty cool, even if I'm not into board games."

Back when Mom was alive, Sojiro didn't really understand her research into cognitive pscience, but he still did what he could to cheer her on, even if he knew she didn't make progress just by being committed enough. Mom appreciated the gesture, though, so I tried to do something similar for Hifumi.

"Actually, Sakura-san, I'm essentially working on my comeback now," Hifumi said. "I quit the Ladies' Professional Shogi Association after losing a match to a pro player. I'd overestimated my skills so much I didn't realize I'd never truly earned my victories, and so must start over. It's not a fully blank slate, though, as I must bear the label of 'Phony Princess,' but it's still better than being known as an idol."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Makoto said. "When we first met, you seemed fairly passionate about and talented in shogi, so don't let the rumors get you down too much."

"Yeah, I agree," I said.

"Thank you very much," Hifumi said in a polite tone that made me feel like I had no manners. "Perhaps the fact that I was too concerned with proving myself blinded me to my lack of talent. Having the support of people like you and Kurusu-kun means a lot to me."

"Oh, Akira?" I said. "I remember you mentioning him in an interview and talking about how much he helped you- thanks for that."

"You're very welcome, Sakura-san," Hifumi said.

As we walked away, Makoto turned to me.

"We've helped many people, but unlike most of them, Hifumi's undergone hardship as a result of her mother's change of heart," Makoto said. "I wonder if we did the right thing."

"We didn't know Mitsuyo was fixing matches back then, and neither did Hifumi," I said. "It's like you said, isn't it? She's talented no matter what people say."

"I suppose you're right," Makoto said. "Togo-san's Shadow did admit that Hifumi was talented at shogi, which was the root of her jealousy toward her daughter."

"Then I think she'll be just fine," I said. "Starting over's always tough, but if she had the talent to impress people, I think she'll become a pro for real this time."

Makoto nodded in agreement and let the subject drop. Taking my life back required more than just banishing the false cognitive version of my mother from my mind, and while Akira had helped me, I'd have to do a lot of the work myself. At the same time, though, every bit of effort I made increased my confidence, and helped me go farther on my own. Maybe that was the real reward my mother had in mind, and everything else was just her encouraging me along.

We returned home soon afterward. While we weren't any closer to freeing Akira, today had been very fulfilling, as a continuation of the work Akira and I had done together on our promise list. He and Morgana might not be around, but I had Sojiro and everyone else, so no item on the promise list would be too hard for me, even the last one.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

The group has always had to keep up with their responsibilities in school as Phantom Thieves, and might even suggest taking a day off even while infiltrating Palaces, so the same goes here.

It's implied during Kawakami's "goodbye" scene that Akira will be taking entrance exams during the next school year, so despite missing class from late November until mid-February except for a short period around the December finals, he apparently got to move up a year.

There's a Mementos exchange in which Makoto, shocked that Futaba sees using a laptop in Mementos as an "outdoor" activity, promises to take her to see the great outdoors someday. I decided to have her make good on that promise, since it's a goal Akira might do with Futaba- you can hang out with her in Inokashira Park, where she mentions going there when her mother was alive.


	6. A Second Chance

**Chapter 6: A Second Chance  
**

 _January 25_

Today, after school, I joined up with Haru on the rooftop to help her tend to her plants, since Makoto had student council business. I noticed that instead of her uniform, Haru was wearing what looked like a red tracksuit. It was nice that I wouldn't stand out too much for not wearing a uniform I didn't have, but I couldn't help but be curious.

"Thank you for coming, Futaba-chan," Haru said. "I realize gardening may not be your interest, but I appreciate your help."

"No problem," I said. "What's with the clothes?"

"It's my PE uniform," Haru said. "Since tending the soil is dirty work, I've been given permission to wear my PE uniform instead while working in the garden, so I don't have to worry about my school uniform. That's quite nice of them, but if I had a choice, I'd wear something like an apron or a pair of overalls for a job like this."

I had to admit that the prospect of a rich girl like Haru dressing as a farmer seemed a bit cute. She was well-mannered and kind to her allies, but also merciless to the Shadows, and enjoyed a lot of things that were hardly stereotypically "girly," like scary movies, fighting Shadows and drinking expensive coffee made from elephant poop. She had too many facets for her to fit into any one stereotype, so I was glad she could be herself around us.

"So I'm gonna be in a place like this starting next year," I said, "day in, day out, for three years."

"Only three years?" Haru said. "Surely you're considering going to college, aren't you?"

"Yeah," I said. "The idea of four or more additional years of schooling doesn't sound so hot, but it does open a lot of doors once I'm out in the real world."

"Mako-chan once said that with a goal in mind, working hard in school is a lot easier," Haru said. "She suggested that she and I didn't necessarily fare better than Ryuji-kun and Ann-chan because we were smarter, but because we were more driven. Both Mako-chan's goal of becoming a police commissioner and my goal of opening my own cafe require a higher education, we're determined to get the best one that we can."

Now that I thought about it, a lot of the others had things figured out better than I did. Makoto and Haru aside, Ann had her modeling, which she was starting to take seriously, while Inari had his art. Ryuji also mentioned that he did track, but kept emphasizing the past tense for some reason. As for Akira, I suspected that someone with his grades and leadership skills wouldn't have any trouble finding a career that suited him once he got out of juvie. His life had all but been on hold this past year, and I was looking forward to it getting back on track.

"Sounds nice," I said. "I've got to respect your work ethic."

"What about you, Futaba-chan?" Haru said. "Surely you have a goal you'd like to accomplish, don't you?"

I paused to think about it. Back when I was young, I wasn't thinking about the future much, and things only got worse after my mom died. As daunting as it was to think about going back to school, I'd have to spend at least part of my energy thinking about what came after that, but it wasn't too hard to think of what my ultimate goal would be.

"I'd like to continue my mom's research into cognitive pscience," I said. "It's really unfair that not only did she get killed because of it, but Shido stole her life's work and used it for his own evil plans. It should be used for humanity's sake instead, and she should be known as a pioneer in the field."

"So it's for your mother's sake," Haru said. "That's quite admirable to try hard for the sake of a departed family member."

I thought for a little about Haru's family situation. She cared for her father at least a little even after everything he did, but while she did feel guilty about his death, she saw his legacy as an exploitative fast food chain. She'd never mentioned her mother- maybe she didn't know her mom, just like I didn't know the guy who got my mom pregnant. There was only one other person who came to mind, one she'd only mentioned once around me.

"You're talking about your grandpa, right?" I said.

Haru nodded.

"Ah, so you remember what I told you after we stole my father's treasure," Haru said. "Back when Okumura Foods was a smaller company, my grandfather ran a cafe. It closed down, because it was no longer profitable and didn't fit my father's image of what the company should be."

"Right- Big Bang Burger," I said. Haru nodded.

"Grandfather made people happy at the expense of his family and business," Haru said, "so Father regarded him as a failure, and set out to do the opposite- making a thriving business that exploited its workers. I admit that not all of Grandfather's decisions were wise, but his way of thinking was not wrong, and I'd like to prove that people like him and your father can have a meaningful life even with a small business."

I paused. I was glad that Haru was saying good things about Sojiro's business, but had to wonder how similar the Sojiro Haru knew was to the Sojiro I knew.

"Y'know, Sojiro's not the best example," I said. "He knows that he's just barely getting by and that being a coffee shop owner wasn't his calling, so he's a bit cynical about the whole thing. That's not to say he doesn't take it seriously, though, but he did point out the reason why he is where he is- both at a coffee shop and a small one- isn't completely by choice."

Haru didn't really try to contest that.

"Maybe not," Haru said, "but there's something earnest about Sakura-san's way of running a business without treating it as a means to an end that's refreshing for me. He takes his work seriously, and has high standards for what he serves his customers. I don't know if this is sustainable in the long term, but I know that if it were to close down, many people, myself included, would be sad to see it go."

"I think Sojiro feels the same way," I said. "He acts as though he doesn't care, and doesn't have any real friends besides Akira, but that's not how he is. He doesn't turn away those in need, even if he isn't sentimental about it."

While Sojiro was understandably upset to hear that Akira and I had become wanted criminals despite his efforts to keep us out of trouble, it was mainly out of concern for our safety. He was hit pretty hard by Akira being incarcerated, so I hoped to get Akira out for Sojiro's sake as well as his.

Haru and I finished up before long, and she stopped by the girls' locker room to change back into her school uniform before we walked to the station together. I didn't feel as though I'd contributed much, but she was happy to have me around, so perhaps I could say the feeling was mutual.

* * *

In the evening, we got a text message from Makoto.

 **Makoto:** Ohya-san called me to let me know that she got in touch with Mitamura-san.

 **Futaba:** Great! How'd that go?

 **Makoto** : Mitamura-san's hesitant to talk with a reporter, but she believed Ohya-san when she said that we could be trusted.

 **Makoto** : As such, Mitamura-san will be coming to Leblanc, four days from now in the evening.

I felt a bit nervous. Obviously we couldn't expect her to say yes without hesitating, but she gave me the feeling that she was still holding out- not enough that she'd refuse us outright, but enough that we couldn't count on her cooperation, even if we needed her in order to convict Shido and exonerate Akira.

 **Futaba:** You think she'll actually cooperate with us?

 **Makoto** : Nothing's guaranteed.

 **Makoto:** She only agreed to the meeting, and made no promises.

 **Yusuke:** I must agree.

 **Yusuke** : She lied to protect herself and did not come forward all this time, until Ohya tracked her down. Why do so now?

While I wondered if Inari was asking a rhetorical question, it was actually worth considering. If she'd refused, Ohya probably never would have heard from her in the first place, much less been able to refer her to us. On the other hand, if she'd said yes without hesitating, she probably would've gone to Sae or the other authorities first.

 **Ryuji** : Maybe, cuz Shido ain't threatening her anymore?

 **Ann** : Ryuji has a point.

 **Ann:** A lot of people knew about Kamoshida, but kept quiet because they were scared or didn't think anyone would listen.

 **Ann** : Once Kamoshida confessed, everyone he abused came out of the woodwork to tell about him.

 **Yusuke:** I suppose, but rumors were circulating about Madarame for years, and nothing was done about them.

 **Haru** : The same goes for Father, as well.

 **Makoto** : In any case, while we cannot assume Mitamura-san will cooperate with us, we must do everything we can to convince her.

 **Makoto:** She is our best- and quite possibly only- chance at exonerating Akira.

We soon ended the conversation and waited for Mitamura to come. I was more than a little nervous leaving so much up to a woman who was of less than impeccable moral character, but I still hoped that she would agree to help us. Not only did we not have as much of a choice, but if a woman who had done wrong in the past had a "change of heart" without having a literal change of heart, then it would serve as proof that people could change without the Phantom Thieves forcing them to do so.

* * *

 _January 29_

Mitamura came into Leblanc at the time we'd arranged.

"Thank you very much for coming to see us, Mitamura-san," Makoto said.

"You're welcome... Niijima-san, was it?" Mitamura said.

"I am," Makoto said, and then proceeded to introduce the rest of us to her.

Mitamura sat down at a booth, and looked around Leblanc for a moment, taking in the sights. The TV was on, talking about

"So this was the place Kurusu-kun stayed while on probation?" Mitamura said.

"Yeah," Sojiro said. "I...had my reasons for not letting him stay at the house, so this was the only place that was left, even if it was just a cluttered and dusty attic."

Sojiro once told me in a private conversation that he was never scared of Akira stealing anything, since he'd be suspect number one. Still, that was a pretty big risk to take, and the fact that Sojiro took it showed that he'd probably trusted Akira more than he let on at times.

Still, Akira had made a home out of that attic. His work desk had various prizes that he'd won in the crane game in Akihabara. His shelf held a ramen bowl he got from eating out with Ryuji, an oversized shogi piece that Hifumi had given him, a hero figure he got from me, a sushi mug that he once got from Ohya, and on or two other souvenirs. On the floor nearby was a huge lamp that looked like the Asakusa Sky Tower, a part of town we hadn't visited while I was there. On the wall behind his sofa was a "Take Your Heart" poster for the Phantom Thieves, back when it was "cool" to like us. He had a TV, a DVD player and a game console that he'd bought for hardly anything, along with a surprisingly cheap broken laptop that he fixed into working condition in a night.

"And now, he had to give all that up in order to testify against Shido," Mitamura said, "all because he was placed on probation almost a year ago."

"Essentially, yes," Haru said. "However, if you are able to prove that Akira-kun did nothing wrong that evening, we should be able to secure his release."

"All right," Mitamura said. "Back then, Shido was having me illegally set up an account for campaign funds that he got from certain wealthy allies in exchange for certain 'favors' that he didn't elaborate on. It was in my name, so that if anything went wrong, I would take the fall for it."

My ears perked up upon hearing that. I didn't know whether Mitamura's testimony would prove that Shido was responsible for ordering Akechi to cause mental shutdowns, but this was proof that he was illegally gathering money. It was a start, and if we could prove that he was guilty of some of his lesser crimes, perhaps it would pave the way to proving that he was responsible for his worse deeds.

"That's Shido for you," Ann said, "sacrificing lots of people- friend and foe- all for his benefit. So why work for a guy like that?"

"It seemed like a promising opportunity when I first heard about it," Mitamura said. "Shido was already a politician with good prospects, so I believed that his career flourishing would benefit mine, as well. When I learned about the money, he gave me an offer. If I worked for him, I would receive a small portion of it, but if I refused, no one would believe me, and he would ruin my reputation."

"An unenviable choice," Inari said. "Madarame did something similar to his disciples, but it was a 'carrot and a stick' scenario in which the carrot was always held out of reach. The prospect of success as an artist is illusory so long as Madarame claims the credit for all your work."

"In my case, I started to realize that it wasn't worth it," Mitamura said. "Not only would he dispose of me without remorse if I crossed him, but the same might happen if I got caught or was no longer needed. I confronted him about it one night, but he was drunk and... you know the rest."

"So, you lied because you were afraid," Inari said, "and because you believed Shido's claims that he would escape punishment for his illegal activity at that moment or in the past."

Mitamura nodded. Inari could be kinda blunt at times, but when he was, he was usually at least partly right. A lot of the people who suffered under the hands of rotten adults did nothing because they believed it wouldn't do any good, thereby allowing themselves and others to continue to suffer.

"I'm sure you all realize this," Mitamura said, "but given the illegal conduct I was involved in with Shido, as well as lying under oath at Kurusu-kun's trial, even if Kurusu-kun goes free, I will likely end up serving a prison sentence for my actions. I can't-"

Mitamura was cut off as Ryuji, who was sitting across from her, pounded the table and glared at her.

"So fucking what?!" Ryuji said. "Our leader's in juvie right now because he was willing to pay that price to take Shido down. And why did he have to do that? Because you lied and put him on probation to begin with!"

"Ryuji!" Ann said. "Can you really say you'd have opposed Shido under those circumstances?"

Ryuji paused a moment, and when he answered, it was less confident than I would have expected. A while back, he'd stepped in to save one of his former teammates from being beaten up by his other teammates, even though all of them hated him for punching Kamoshida, and the guy who was being targeted had apparently blabbed to Kamoshida about Ryuji's home life.

"I can," Ryuji said. "Even if it didn't do any good, you've gotta at least try to stand up to scumbags like Shido. At least I wouldn't do something cowardly like throw the guy who saved me under the bus."

Makoto solemnly nodded before turning to Ann.

"As harsh as Ryuji was, Ann, he has a point," Makoto said, "since while telling the truth can be difficult, actively lying to protect yourself is another matter entirely. Mitamura-san, your conduct back then was unconscionable and illegal, and I'm sure there will be consequences if you come forward."

"I know," Mitamura said. "You and Sakamoto-kun are simply being honest, and I appreciate that."

"That said," Makoto said, "you can think of this as a way to make amends to Akira, a second chance to tell the truth, and an opportunity to bring down Shido, the man who molested and threatened you before. Now that he's due to stand trial, you can testify to his crimes, and he will be convicted."

"Do you think it will work?" Mitamura said.

"I believe it will," Makoto said. "My older sister is a prosecutor on Shido's case. She's a talented and ambitious individual with a strong sense of justice. She vowed to see him brought to justice, and I believe she will make good on that promise."

"Then that's all I can hope for," Mitamura said. "If your friend sacrificed his freedom for the chance of bringing Shido to justice, then the least I can do is sacrifice mine to help him. Please let your sister know that I will testify."

Makoto placed a call to her sister, and got Mitamura on. The two talked for a few minutes, exchanging contact information.

"Well, that's that," Mitamura said. "This may be the last time we see each other for a while, so please accept my humblest apologies, as well as my thanks."

"We should be thanking you, Mitamura-san," Makoto said. "Meeting you was the best thing to happen to us since Akira was imprisoned."

"Yeah," Ryuji said. "I can't forgive you, but I've gotta admit- you've done us a real favor there."

"Me too," I said. "Whatever wrongdoing you might've done in the past, you did the right thing now."

Mitamura gave a bittersweet smile. It definitely took courage to admit what she had done to the friends of the one she had wronged, but she'd managed to do it, so I had to respect that.

"You can save your thanks until after Shido's convicted," Mitamura said. "With that, I must be going- I'm needed at the police station."

Mitamura got up, bowed deeply to us, then walked out the door.

"So, we've got our woman," Sojiro said. "What's on you guys' minds?"

"I honestly found it easier to judge her before we actually met her and heard her story," Inari said. "She made bad decisions that were in large part motivated by personal gain, but she also came to regret her actions."

"You've got a point," Ryuji said. "Now that I think about it- ain't this what we really wanted? To give people courage?"

"Yeah," Ann said. "All sorts of people, myself included, knew about Kamoshida, but felt too scared or powerless to do anything. I've always wanted to change others, but I suppose that involved changing myself first. She reminds me of my old self- I don't like her, but I can't judge her, either, since I know how hard it can be to become a stronger person."

"I'm with ya, Ann," Ryuji said. "At the end of October, I realized all I wanted was to be a hero, and I felt like I hadn't changed at all since becoming a Phantom Thief."

I remembered the time Ryuji had called me that day, after the first Phantom Thieves meeting following Akechi uncovering our identities adjourned. It was a dark time for all of us, but he'd taken the news the worst, since he'd been forced to question his reasons for doing the one thing that actually made him feel like a good person. Despite that, he was worried enough to call up me and Haru to apologize for upsetting us, so he was a good guy deep down, even if he didn't think so at the time.

"I admit that I've struggled with such thoughts in the past," Makoto said. "In spite of that, I continue to believe that people can change for the better, and that, when they're no longer able to deny the truth, they can be counted on to make the right choice. Those who voted for Shido did so because they believed he was the leader this country needed, but when people saw Tokyo being transformed, they stood with the Phantom Thieves as they fought the one responsible. That's why I believe Mitamura-san, having realized her wrongdoing and Shido's true nature, will do the right thing and help Akira."

Makoto was right, especially considering that she spoke from personal experience as someone who wanted her sister to change for the better, but hoped she wouldn't have to steal Sae's heart. Mitamura had a lot to make up for, but I believed she'd taken the first steps toward atoning for what she'd done and becoming a better person. It wouldn't be an easy process, but for her sake and Akira's sake, I'd be rooting for her every step of the way.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

While Yusuke's the only one who explicitly complains about Akira being betrayed by the woman he saved, I suspect that the other Phantom Thieves wouldn't approve much of her behavior, either.

It'll take a little while for the group to secure Akira's release, in keeping with the game's timeline, since he'll be released on February 13, so it'll take another chapter or two to get there.

I feel as though I'm making fairly good progress with the story, but I'm a bit farther from 50,000 words than I'd anticipated for this point in the fic. I suppose that can't be helped, though.


	7. A Personal Confession

**Chapter 7: A Personal Confession  
**

 _January 30  
_

Days passed since our meeting with Mitamura. The only news we got was that Mitamura had turned herself in, and was now in custody. I was kinda hoping that meant she'd get to see Akira and personally apologize to him, since a part of me actually hoped that would happen so _she_ could get a sense of closure and ultimately forgive herself, like I did after Kana-chan forgave me. I shared this with the others, and was disappointed when Makoto said that since Akira was in solitary confinement in a different facility, that wouldn't be possible.

A part of me got worried. Not only was Akira cut off from his family, friends and girlfriend, but there was no telling what might happen to him now that no one could check on him. Luckily, Ryuji heard from Iwai, the guy who owned the airsoft shop, that he talked with his old associates- presumably from the Hashiba clan, but Iwai wouldn't say- and they swore on their honor that their incarcerated colleagues wouldn't let any harm come to Akira.

With that in mind, being separated from Akira was easier to bear, even though I knew I would only rest easy once he was back with everyone he cared about. Until then, though, I could keep myself busy, looking into other possibilities to gain his freedom and broadening my horizons with my friends' help.

* * *

"Why am I here again?" I said to no one in particular as I walked down the aisles of a supermarket in Shibuya, next to Inari.

"I recall you complaining about Boss's financial situation," Inari said, "so I invited you here to offer some of my advice, as well as to take advantage of the sales."

"Ah, right," I said. "Just keep in mind- Sojiro won't cut corners when it comes to curry or coffee."

Leblanc wasn't a fancy restaurant, but it wasn't a soulless fast food chain like Big Bang Burger, either. Sojiro wasn't good enough of a chef to charge thousands of yen for each dish, but he took enough pride in his work to not serve anything less than his best.

"Truly commendable," Inari said. "I see a certain level of artistry in food, and am glad that Boss does not forsake quality for profit."

"When you say artistry, do you mean the way food looks on commercials?" I said. "You know they used all these special techniques to make the food delicious, but that also make it inedible, right?"

Inari sighed and shook his head.

"You miss the point," Inari said. "The elements contained in a work must be chosen with a careful understanding of how they benefit the work, both by themselves and in conjunction with others. I once tried to capture the essence of 'Desire,' but that picture ended up as a pretentious scribble, while 'Desire and Hope' became a work that was my finest to date. The former failed because it only told half the story, while the second succeeded because it juxtaposed two distinct yet related elements."

I wasn't an art critic, but I could see the artistry behind the Sayuri- the real one, that is. The fake, by removing the baby, removed a key element of the original and only seemed like a cheap knockoff by comparison.

"Oh, I get it," I said. "It reminds me a little of how Mom helped improve Sojiro's curry, but she did it as a scientist, not an artist."

"Yes, I do suppose that there is a certain scientific element to cooking," Inari said, "since you're not only gathering ingredients that taste good together, but also creating a careful application of heat that will make the end result edible. That is one reason why I have not been able to experiment as freely with the aesthetics of cooking as I have been with painting."

"And the other reason?" I said.

Inari let off a nervous chuckle.

"Money, quite simply," Inari said. "Throughout much of my life, I have been responsible for feeding myself, so I have had to think long and hard about the most cost-efficient way to do so. Given that art is far from a lucrative field, and I abhor the idea of creating it purely for money, I do not anticipate this changing in the foreseeable future. I'll be blunt- Boss is more likely to make Leblanc into a successful coffee shop than I am to become wealthy through my art."

Before I'd contacted the Phantom Thieves as Alibaba, I did a little research online about their past targets. Considering that Madarame was a greedy bastard who exploited his pupils and sold counterfeits of his stolen masterpiece for profit, I could hardly blame Inari for not wanting to turn out like him. Of course, Inari still saw some good in the man, so perhaps he was trying to be like the person Madarame had pretended to be, instead of the person he actually was. As much of a weirdo as he could be, Yusuke was passionate and principled, and I had to respect that.

"Is something on your mind?" Inari said.

"Not much," I said. "You kinda remind me of Sojiro in a few ways."

"I shall take that as a compliment," Inari said. "Now, come; it appears we do not have long left to gather free samples."

Inari showed me around the store, and I picked up some tips on how to shop, even if it was kinda disappointing how little they actually saved. If the most Inari could get out of this level of frugality was an extra art book every month, then Sojiro would have trouble putting me through college. Still, that was far in the future, so until then, we could hope for the best and try our hardest.

* * *

 _January 31  
_

I went to the gym with Ryuji and Ann today. We all had different motives for the outing- the other two wanted to get out of having to study, Ryuji wanted to get back into shape, Ann wanted to keep her weight down, and I wanted to get ready for PE class next year. I wasn't much of a fan of exercise, but I knew that PE was going to be brutal if I didn't prepare for it.

Before we got started, we changed into the new workout clothes Ann and I had bought on a previous shopping trip, along with supplies- towels, spare underwear and protein shakes. We used a variety of machines, and I couldn't help but be discouraged to start out at the easiest possible settings for all of them. It was just like at the start of an RPG, when my party was killing rats, slimes and maybe the occasional goblin, but _because_ I had a long way to go, I knew I had to work hard and prepare for the.

When all was said and done, I was surprised to see that Ryuji was the one who was most tired. Maybe he'd pushed himself the hardest, but he, in a surprisingly sensible move for him, had stressed that we know our limits- maybe he didn't know his.

"Seriously, Ryuji, are you OK?" I said.

"Yeah..." Ryuji said. "I've gotten used to this, but it still sucks that I'm nowhere near I was in my prime."

"What happened?" I said.

Ryuji scowled for a moment, and Ann looked concerned, but when I looked into his eyes, they seemed to be gazing off into the distance, rather than at me. Once again, I'd hit an unpleasant spot without realizing it, but before I could apologize, Ryuji spoke.

"Kamoshida happened," Ryuji said. "He took over as head of the track team, and ran me ragged until my leg broke. It took a long time for me to get better, and even then, I'm still not at 100 percent."

"Back then, Ryuji's hair was black, too," Ann said. "I've known him a long time, and he's changed a lot in the past two years."

It was a bit hard to imagine Ryuji being like that in the past, even if it was only natural that he'd changed after something like that. Kana-chan was still mostly the same as she was in the past- a kind yet lonely girl who'd eagerly befriend a fellow pariah, but wouldn't tell anyone else about her suffering- the only thing that had changed was that she now had a way to deal with her parents.

"Yeah, but I can't blame that all on Kamoshida," Ryuji said. "Back then, i got too invested in being a track star to help my mom out, then did the same thing when it came to being a Phantom Thief. Now that I'm no longer either of those, I've realized something.'

"What's that?" I said.

"You've gotta love yourself to some degree," Ryuji said. "I don't mean being an egotistical bastard like Shido and the others, but understanding who you are and valuing your strong points while working on your weak ones. I might not be able to run or steal hearts anymore, but I can still be a good person as long as I make the right choices for the right reasons."

"Yeah," Ann said. "Akira helped me a bit with training my heart. It sounded like a crazy idea, even to me, but my Persona ended up evolving, so it all worked out."

I felt a bit guilty. The others trusted me enough to share important and often shameful details of their lives, and here I was, keeping secrets from them.

"Something wrong, Futaba?" Ann said.

I paused a moment, but, unable to actually say what was on the mind, I changed the subject.

"Nothing, really," I said. "I just didn't know you had a Persona besides Hecate."

"Yeah," Ann said. "My original Persona was Carmen, and Ryuji had Captain Kidd before he got Seiten Taisei."

"Yep," Ryuji said. "I started out hangin' out with Akira to train, but before I knew it, my Persona got stronger, too. I guess he had that effect on all of us."

"Maybe it wasn't just him," Ann said. "When I had to say goodbye to Shiho just after the finals in July, I couldn't stop crying, until Akira reminded me that I had all my friends. It would've been the perfect opportunity for him to make the move on me, but that was still a really nice thing for him to do."

A part of me was relieved to hear that Akira had "friendzoned" Ann, but more than anything, I was happy to hear of others who appreciated him as much as I did, even if that wasn't news to me.

"Yep," I said. "He, along with the rest of you guys, helped give me my life back. I don't know if pitching in to fight for his freedom makes us even, but I won't settle for anything less."

We were all pretty tired at this point, so we decided to call it a day, after changing and packing up our belongings. As I went home, though, I couldn't help but think about my feelings of guilt over keeping secrets from the group... and conclude that the time had come to rectify that.

* * *

 _February 1_

I called the group together in Leblanc while Sojiro was out doing errands. I sat down next to Inari at a booth, and across from Haru and Makoto, while Ryuji and Ann sat at the counter.

"So why did you want to see us, Futaba-chan?" Haru said. "Do you have news on the case.

Makoto looked doubtful. Sae didn't tell her everything, but if there was something that Sae could talk about and we needed to know, Makoto would probably be the first to know.

"I've got a confession to make," I said, pausing until I was sure I had everyone's attention. "Um... what would you guys say if Akira and I changed someone's heart without asking you?"

"It would not be the first time someone changed a heart unilaterally," Haru said. "Mona-chan changed some people' hearts before the other Phantom Thieves could back in October- I could only serve as his driver."

I recalled the requests that Haru and Mona had taken on. Those guys were small fries, but they still needed a change of heart, so it was nice that someone had dealt with them. Pretty much everyone else agreed, so Ann got us back on track.

"Well, that depends," Ann said. "What kind of person were they, Futaba?"

"Let's see..." I said. "It was an uncle who abused his niece and tried to shake down her adoptive dad's business for money by framing a guy for assault when he tried to protect m- the girl."

"Yeah, that guy sounds like a real scumbag," Ryuji said. "It serves him right."

Nobody argued with Ryuji, but everyone else practically turned white as a sheet upon hearing what I'd said. I thought I'd made it generic enough to ease into telling everyone, but in retrospect, I think the combination of the details made it a bit too obvious.

"This all seems too familiar," Ann said. "Don't tell me..."

"Yeah," I said. "He was _my_ uncle."

The others were speechless for a moment. I couldn't tell what disturbed them more- that I had people like that in my family tree, or that those people had been allowed to take care of me after Mom died.

"I was afraid of that," Makoto said. "When we were in your Palace, we'd heard that the men in black suits read your mother's fake suicide note aloud, and caused your relatives to turn on you."

"That's not all," I said. "When my uncle had custody of me, he didn't give me food, baths or a bed, treating me worse than an animal. Sojiro had to pay him most of the money he got from Mom to take me off his hands, but that wasn't enough for my uncle. He came back to get more, threatening to report Sojiro to the family court. In a fit of rage on the night of October 14, he tried to hit me, but Akira stepped between us and my uncle fell down. He was threatening to sue Sojiro over Akira 'assaulting' him, so I had to do something, quick."

"So you didn't have a lot of time," Ann said, "and Akira was the only one who knew what was going on."

I nodded. From what I heard, most of our time limits were more generous than that. We generally had around three weeks to steal the treasure before something bad happened, and we could manage it in three days if we were lucky. In my uncle's case, I wanted to steal his heart immediately, and even that was too late.

"Yeah," I said. "Besides, Haru was still...unavailable, so we couldn't meet as a full group. The next day, I sent my uncle a letter, and Akira and I changed his heart together."

Haru tensed up for a moment, wracked with guilt. Since I was the one who'd kept secrets from everyone else and put Akira into unnecessary danger, I didn't want anyone else to feel regret for what had happened.

"I'm sorry," Haru said, prompting Makoto to lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be, Haru," Makoto said. "All of us understand that back then was a difficult time for you. As someone who also lost my father in the recent past, I have some idea of what it's like."

"Yeah, something similar happened with my mom," I said, "which is why I never wanted you to blame yourself for your dad's death."

"I understand," Haru said. "Thank you, Mako-chan, Futaba-chan."

I then noticed that Inari had been frowning disapprovingly at me ever since I told him about the change of heart, just before Inari himself weighed in.

"Still, even without Haru, it would have been best to at least apprise the rest of us us of your need," Inari said. "Our rules require unanimous agreement before taking on a target, and I doubt anyone would have objected. Even with the short notice, we would not have had any difficulty gathering for an emergency mission, like when we confronted Mishima's Shadow. Besides, Akira taking on people's Shadows with only Futaba's support is a risk with no upsides."

"C'mon, Yusuke," Ryuji said. "Ain't it a little late for that?"

"Even so, it must be said," Inari said. "If nothing else, Futaba, by now you should know that the Phantom Thieves cannot ignore those in need of help, even if such individuals are unwilling to ask for it."

"Yusuke..." I said. I'd heard that he was initially unwilling to accept that his teacher was an abuser and a plagiarizer, even if he knew better than most, so it was clear he was speaking from personal experience.

"Now, now, Yusuke-kun," Haru said. "That's enough talk about what should have been done. I wanted to help Futaba-chan and Boss, but I couldn't, so I'm simply glad that Futaba-chan's uncle had a change of heart."

I nodded appreciatively. We'd still had to deal with the investigators, but not only were they reasonable, but my uncle withdrawing his report was a sign that his heart had changed, and he wouldn't cause any more trouble.

"True," Inari said. "My objections notwithstanding, if Futaba had asked for my help on this matter and insisted that I do so alone, I would not have refused her. I believe we can spare Akira the lecture when he returns to us."

I was happy that we were starting to talk in terms of "when," not "if." Finding Mitamura had helped us a great deal, since we had actual testimony that proved Akira's innocence, rather than just the word of those who believed in him and their supporters.

We changed the subject for the moment, but I felt as though a great weight had been taken off my chest. I still had yet to tell the others about Akira, but that could wait for when the time was right, and when Akira and I could do so together.

* * *

 **Author's Notes  
**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

One has to wonder what sort of conditions there would be for a prisoner in solitary confinement who's cut off from the outside world. As such, perhaps while Iwai can't help much with the trial, his associates can help ensure that no harm comes to Akira.

It's surprising how similar Ann's friend/lover choice is to the previous Lovers representative, Rise- both involve hugging the girl in question (a much more romantic act in Japan than in the west) while she's crying.

We're somewhere around the midpoint of the fic. Next chapter, Akira gets out of juvenile hall, and shares Valentine's Day with Futaba.


	8. A Momentary Reprieve

**Chapter 8: A Momentary Reprieve  
**

 _February 12_

In the evening, Sojiro and I sat in Leblanc after having dinner together. The silence was broken by Sojiro's cell phone ringing, and he picked up immediately.

"Hello?" Sojiro said. "...It's just me and Futaba- nobody else is here... Ok, I'll put you on speakerphone."

Sojiro set the phone down on the counter, saying, "It's the prosecutor."

"This is Niijima," Sae said. "Can you hear me, Futaba-chan?"

"Loud and clear," I said.

"Good," Sae said, "because I have an important bit of news for you. Akira-kun will be released tomorrow."

My heart almost stopped from all this excitement, the same way it did when Akira told me he loved me. This time, though, it was easier to accept, possibly because it was the goal we'd been working for all this time, so I was able to actually express myself with words.

"For real?!" I said.

"About damn time," Sojiro said with a smile on his face.

"Yes, I'm quite positive," Sae said. "I'm holding the paperwork for his release in my hands, and according to the courts, the assault conviction will be removed from his record. I haven't been able to see Akira-kun since Christmas, though, so I'm sure this news will be quite a pleasant surprise for him."

"Well, he's still gonna need a ride home," I said.

"I'll handle that," Sojiro said.

"Good," Sae said. "I'm switching off speakerphone for a moment, since I'll need to talk with Boss about a few things."

Sojiro picked up the phone and put it up to his ear. I couldn't tell what he and Sae were talking about from what he was saying.

I started up an IM conversation with everyone to let everyone know the good news.

 **Futaba** : Big news, guys.

 **Futaba:** Akira's being released tomorrow.

There was a pause, and then the responses flooded in.

 **Ryuji** : Hell yeah!

 **Ann:** We did it!

 **Yusuke** : I could not ask for anything more.

 **Makoto:** I just got a message from Sis-this is great news.

 **Haru:** Wonderful!

 **Makoto** : Incidentally, how are you taking him home?

 **Futaba:** Sojiro's gonna pick him up and bring him to Leblanc.

 **Futaba:** Tomorrow's a day off, so let's all meet up there.

Before long, Sojiro's conversation concluded. After hanging up, he glanced at me as I texted everyone. He'd started getting suspicious when Akira and I simultaneously went on our phones to text everyone with him around, even if he couldn't see what we were typing, so he was pretty sharp for an old guy with bad eyesight and little tech savvy.

"So you're letting everyone the news?" Sojiro said. "While you're at it, could you let everyone know that Akira's going home late next month?"

I froze in shock, before quivering in outrage. How was it fair that, after getting Akira back, we'd be parted from him in a little over a month?

"What're you so surprised for?" Sojiro said. "He was only staying with us as long as he was on probation. It didn't end quite the way we'd hoped, but his record's clean, and I've done my job as his guardian."

"Well, yeah," I said, "but doesn't he get a choice in this? Wouldn't he want to stay here?"

"You'd have to ask him," Sojiro said, "but even if his parents were a bit too eager to get him off their hands, they wouldn't be happy leaving him with a stranger for longer than necessary."

I sighed. Sojiro wasn't related to me by blood, but he was the closest thing I had to a real parent after my mom died, and maybe, the same went for Akira. Unfortunately, it didn't sound as though I'd be able to say anything to change this, so I stayed quiet.

"Come on, don't make that face," Sojiro said. "The least we can do is give him a nice welcome back tomorrow, don't you?"

I turned back to the chat, having missed a little of it. The group was busy talking about going out somewhere for spring break.

 **Haru** : Pardon me for asking, but wouldn't Akira-kun's being on probation pose a problem?

 **Makoto:** No. He was able to travel to Hawaii.

 **Makoto:** I believe you saw him there, after all.

With a sigh, I started typing my reply to Haru's question.

 **Futaba:** I've got good news and bad news.

 **Futaba:** Good news: Akira's not on probation anymore.

 **Futaba:** Bad news: He's gonna have to go home in late March.

After a short pause, people began responding again, but not nearly as enthusiastically as before.

 **Makoto** : So we'll have to say goodbye to him soon?

 **Makoto:** I confess that I'm not entirely eager to do so, but it's better for him to go home than stay in juvenile hall.

 **Futaba:** That's about the size of it.

 **Ann:** Saying goodbye's always hard, but you've gotta do it.

 **Ann:** Besides, we can wish him well and get a sense of closure this way, rather than having him turn himself in first thing in the morning.

Makoto and Ann were right. I wanted him to stay, as did they, but it wasn't fair to make Akira stick around.

 **Ryuji:** Yeah, but is he gonna be okay back home?

 **Ryuji** : His family and everyone he knew hung him out to dry the moment he got in trouble.

Ryuji spoke from personal experience. After he punched Kamoshida in the face- a guy who deserved a lot worse than that- his former track teammates turned on him. Because of this, Ryuji knew what it meant to be a pariah, abandoned even by those you once trusted.

 **Futaba:** Yeah, but it's better than staying in juvie.

 **Futaba** : Solitary confinement reminds me of all the time I spent stuck in my room, and even that had video games, the internet and the freedom to leave when I wanted.

 **Ann** : I get what Ryuji's saying, but I think Akira's gonna be fine.

 **Ann:** He came here without any friends, and with a reputation as a violent juvenile delinquent, but now he's leaving behind people who trust him and see who he really is.

 **Makoto** : Well said, Ann.

 **Makoto** : Haru and I may not have Akira's problems with his reputation, but we will soon have to pack up and start over at college.

 **Makoto** : Perhaps we can learn from his example.

I'd heard that a lot of people didn't like Makoto as student council president- which begged the question of why they voted her into office in the first place- so Makoto was obviously downplaying her own problems.

 **Futaba** : First thing's first, though.

 **Futaba:** Sojiro's gonna help us hold our celebration party for Akira at Leblanc- you guys in?

Everyone said yes, and we spent the rest of the conversation working out details. Akira's future was uncertain, but the one thing we all agreed on was that rather than worry about what we knew little about and couldn't change, it would be best to focus on welcoming our leader back, and celebrating our last and greatest triumph as Phantom Thieves.

* * *

I sent an email to Kana-chan telling her all the news, both good and bad. Within a few minutes, I got a phone call.

"Hello, this is Futaba," I said.

"Hello, Futaba-chan," Kana-chan said. "Congratulations on getting Kurusu-san out."

"Thanks, Kana-chan," I said. "I told you that I'll only have him back for about a month, but that's better than him staying in prison for who knows how long."

"That's right," Kana-chan said. "Look on the bright side- if he's getting out tomorrow, he'll be back in time for Valentine's Day."

I was speechless for a moment. Valentine's Day was a date that usually had as much significance to me as the release dates for new games did for Sojiro, and while that had changed this year, I was too focused on getting Akira out of prison that I didn't think about buying him chocolate.

"Holy crap, I totally forgot," I said.

"That's ok," Kana-chan said. "I only remembered because yesterday, one of the girls at work asked me if I was getting anyone chocolate. My answer's no, but I thought of you."

"Thanks for the reminder," I said. "I only hope there's some chocolate left in the stores tomorrow."

Since it was already too late to head out on the town to buy some, Kana-chan and I said goodbye to each other so we could get to bed.

* * *

 _February 13_

In the morning, after having breakfast, I set out for the grocery store in Yongenjaya to buy some chocolate. I'd gotten enough experience shopping alone that I was able to find it myself, which was good, since I didn't want anyone else to learn that I was buying it just yet. I picked up a few other items- snacks, instant meals and so forth- so I'd have an excuse for why I was here if Sojiro or anyone else asked me about it.

The cashier was a young woman who looked like she was between the Niijima sisters' ages. She must've graduated high school and then entered the workforce rather than continuing on to college.

"Ah, it's nice to see a new face around here," the cashier said. "Are you shopping for Valentine's day, miss?"

Even though Yongen-jaya was part of Tokyo, it was one of those parts of town where practically everyone knew each other- at the very least, everyone there knew my dad. The cashier probably called me what she did partly out of politeness and partly because she didn't know my name.

"Something like that," I said. "I wasn't even sure whether the guy would be available until today."

"Ah," the cashier said. "I won't ask too much, but maybe you can make your own chocolate next year. I made some chocolate for my boyfriend, and I think it turned out pretty well."

She had a point, but doing something like that would require a crafting proficiency that I didn't have. Since I only barely understood what went into chocolate, I could only imagine how badly things would turn out if I failed at making it.

For now, though, she was eager to accept my money, even if only a small part of that went toward paying her wages, and wished me a pleasant Valentine's Day. I thanked her, took my bag and went on my way.

* * *

I returned home while Sojiro was still at Leblanc and stashed the chocolate in my room, in a secure hiding spot, not wanting a repeat of the incident with Sojiro finding the calling card. It turned out we could trust him, but it was also a wake-up call to be more careful- he burned the card after dinner, not wanting anyone else to discover any evidence of my association with the Phantom Thieves.

I then headed over to Leblanc, and within an hour, the others started to show up, one or two at a time, based on how long their morning routines and commutes took. I'd wanted Akira to myself, but the rest of his friends were just as happy that he was coming back as I was, so I'd have to share him with them. Since it was a day off of school, they were all available all day, and could wait as long as they needed.

Unfortunately, that was a bit longer than we'd anticipated, as we realized when we saw another TV news story about a subway accident. The good news was that since Sojiro and Akira were taking a car, they hadn't been hurt. The bad news was that since all the other commuters who were taking the subway now had to take their cars, the traffic was that much more congested.

"How'd exams go?" I said, hoping to make small talk while we were waiting.

"Not so great," Ryuji said, without mincing words.

"I did pretty well on English," Ann said. "As for the other subjects, I should pass if I'm lucky."

"So about as well as we could expect," Makoto said. "I suppose I can tell my sister that no one was distracted more than usual."

"Well, she shouldn't have anything to complain about when it comes to her sister," Haru said.

Suddenly, the door opened, and I saw a familiar face with scruffy black hair. He looked like he'd lost a little weight, but other than that, seemed unharmed and in good health for someone who'd spent weeks in the slammer. After a month and a half of being imprisoned, Akira had finally returned to us.

"I'm home," Akira said.

"Welcome back, Akira!" I said I rushed over to greet him. Just because I had to share him with everyone else and had to restrain myself while we weren't alone didn't mean I couldn't be the first one to greet him. Of course, since the others were just as excited to see Akira, they weren't far behind me.

"How've you been?" Ryuij said.

"Quite well, thanks to all of you," Akira said. "I heard about the protests for my freedom and your tracking down the woman. It's no exaggeration to say that I wouldn't be standing here if not for you- thank you all."

"We should be saying that to you," Haru said. "You were the one who turned himself in to ensure Shido's conviction."

"Yeah, and you helped all of us this past year," I said. "All those people got together to vouch for your character and repay you."

"We had a deal, after all," Akira said. "One thing I've learned this year is that nothing can be gained without giving something. My friendships and alliances are the result of a great deal of hard work in building trust, after all, and we couldn't have taken down our targets without risking our lives."

We all silently agreed. My mom's promise notes had introduced me to the concept of working toward a reward, and now, I realized that in some ways, the person most responsible for securing Akira's release was Akira himself.

"I've gotta get going to buy some food to celebrate Akira's release," Sojiro said. "Don't expect anything too extravagant, though- I am on a tight budget, after all."

Even if Sojiro's financial situation wasn't as bad as it was,, I was fine with that. We hadn't been able to fully enjoy our past victories for one reason or another, so it was nice to have a simple, ordinary celebration. We'd saved the world, freed our leader and fulfilled our last promise to Akechi, so it was nice to enjoy each other's company as friends.

After Sojiro left, we caught up a little, although there wasn't much to talk about. He was glad to hear more about how people had helped free him, and had apparently talked with Sojiro a little about going back home on the drive back.

"By the way," Akira said, "how's the woman I saved from Shido doing? I couldn't have done this without her, after all."

Makoto sighed.

"She's awaiting trial for perjury and for her being accomplice to some of Shido's violations of the fundraising laws," Makoto said, "but according to my sister, she will likely be shown some degree of leniency for cooperating."

"I see," Akira said. "She's making a sacrifice to do the right thing, just like I did, and I wish I could do more for her."

That was Akira in a nutshell. He was compassionate to everyone- his friends, total strangers and even those who betrayed him. At times, I thought that it wasn't fair that he'd suffered as much as he had, but while he wouldn't have gotten in trouble if he hadn't helped Mitamura, the fact that she did so resulted in her returning the favor.

The door opened once again, but instead of Sojiro, it was another of our lost companions- Mona, just as we were starting to miss hi am again. We were all happy to see him, at least until he admitted that he'd come back almost immediately and only didn't return because he thought it would've been awkward. Still, as annoyed as we were with him, we were glad he'd come back, and he was glad to be back- he even started taking a liking to cat food.

Once again, we laughed together, shared a meal and got on each other's nerves. Our days as Phantom Thieves were over, but we were each other's cherished friends and trusted companions, so our days together had not ended just yet.

* * *

As night fell, everyone started heading back to their homes. Eventually, only Sojiro, Akira, Mona and I were left, so the three humans sat down to have dinner together.

"Wow, it's been a while," Akira said.

"Since you had my curry?" Sojiro said. "Or since you ate with any of us?"

"Both," Akira said. "The food in juvenile hall is bad, and I've heard the company is even worse."

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts," Sojiro said.

Akira nodded.

"Sojiro told you about how you'd have to go home, right, Akira?" I said.

Sojiro and Akira nodded.

"He did," Akira said. "We talked about it on the drive home. There was a time when I couldn't wait for my probation to end, but now, I'll miss everyone I got to know here, you two most of all."

It was a sobering reminder of how Akira having to move home was hardest on Akira himself. He'd carved out a nice life in Tokyo, but he'd done so knowing that it wasn't truly his home, or at least, wasn't meant to be.

We soon finished our dinner, and after Akira was done washing our plates, Sojiro turned to him.

"You should probably get in touch with your folks," Sojiro said. "They need to know that you're coming home."

"Gotcha," Akira said. "I'll go and call them."

Akira went upstairs to the attic and called his parents. It was a conversation that Sojiro and I couldn't hear, but Akira was gone long enough that I was sure that he'd actually reached his parents, instead of their voicemail. A few minutes later, he came back downstairs.

"So?" Sojiro said. "What'd they say?"

"They say I can head home on the 20th," Akira said. "They're not really enthusiastic, but they aren't open to letting me stay here."

"Did you tell them about me?" I said. "Or the others?" I hastily added.

"No," Akira said. "From their tone, I gather that they think anyone who'd be friends with a punk like me wasn't worth having as a friend."

Sojiro frowned indignantly. I was wondering if he was suspicious, but it didn't seem as though he had us on his mind.

"They've got it backwards," Sojiro said. "Anyone who can look past someone's unsavory exterior and see the actual person beneath is the truest sort of friend one can have."

The more I heard about Akira's folks, the less I liked them. It seemed as though they didn't have much love for or faith in him, their son. They had more in common with my relatives than they did with Sojiro or my mom, and it seemed as though neither the Kurusus nor Akira necessarily wanted to be stuck with each other.

"Oh, and..." Akira said, "my folks are fine with my taking Morgana back home. I just have to take full responsibility for taking care of him, pay the fee for having a cat at the apartment, and make sure he stays out of trouble."

That was a lot to ask of him, but taking care of a pet was hard work. Some of the Kurusus' attitudes and actions caused me to raise an eyebrow, but this seemed like a pretty fair deal- they'd let him keep Morgana as long as he was able to handle it.

"That actually sounds reasonable," I said.

"Yeah, that's pretty much the same deal he made with the chief," Mona said. "It really convinced us that the chief wasn't such a bad guy, after all."

"My thoughts exactly, Morgana," Akira said.

"What was that he just said?" Sojiro said.

"Let's see..." I said. "It's quote, 'Tell your folks that if they go out for sushi, bring some home for the cat,' unquote."

"Exactly," Mona said. "Wait, that's not what I said!"

"But seriously, Sojiro, thank you," Akira said, "for looking after me all this time, teaching me how to make your recipes, letting me keep Morgana here, and keeping our secrets as Phantom Thieves safe. Sae was quick to guess that I must have had some help from the owner of the cafe I was staying in, and she was right- I really couldn't have done it without you."

"Really, that's my line," Sojiro said. "Still, I'm happy to hear that."

We talked for a little while longer, until we noticed that it was getting late, and Sojiro and I headed home for the night. None of us were related by blood, but it felt like we were a real family, or at least more of one than Akira's family seemed to be, so it was a shame that we didn't have much time left together.

* * *

As soon as I got back to my room, I quickly started up my phone and sent a message to Akira, asking to spend Valentine's Day with him at Leblanc. He didn't even hesitate in responding and accepting my invitation, much to my delight. He even was fairly understanding about why I wasn't too keen on inviting him with Sojiro and/or our friends around to hear it, since he didn't even feel the need to ask why.

I thought back on the conversation we'd had with Sojiro, and wondered why we'd never told him. He'd shown us that we could trust him at many points in the late autumn and early winter, so why couldn't we do so now?

It sounded like a rhetorical question, but it wasn't that hard to think of answers. The only likely reason Sojiro hadn't been proactive in discouraging Akira from getting together with me was that he likely never honestly anticipated that would happen to someone who'd had no friends for as long as I'd been in his care. Since he was surprised and a bit nervous about my going out, how would he feel about my having a boyfriend?

I couldn't think of what to do about this right now, but decided to wait and talk with Akira about this some more. We'd only just gotten back together, so we should at least enjoy our reunion before taking the time to figure out whether, how and when to tell Sojiro about us.

* * *

 _February 14  
_

In the morning, Akira had breakfast at Leblanc for the first time in almost two months.

"Make sure you come straight home after school today," Sojiro said. "I'm gonna need you to help out at the cae."

"Today?!" I said. I suppose it was fair for Sojiro to ask Akira to earn his keep around here, but today was the last day I wanted Akira to be booked solid.

"Why not?" Sojiro said. "Now that he's been released, it'd be best if he gets back into his daily routine."

"But..." I said.

I got a little paranoid and started to worry. Was Sojiro actually aware we were going out, and was this just another ploy to keep him too busy to see me? Akira didn't think so, though, since he was as calm as always.

"It's OK, Futaba," Akira said. "I'll see you this evening."

Sojiro furrowed his brow, like when Akira and I texted our friends about Phantom Thieves-related news. In hindsight, I think he knew about us, and probably had for a while.

Of course, since Akira had to go, and customers would soon be coming, Sojiro didn't have time to ask about that right now. Once the first customers started heading in, I made like a tree, and went back to my room.

* * *

At lunchtime, I ate some instant ramen before messaging everyone else.

 **Futaba:** So, anyone get chocolates?

 **Ryuji** : Nope.

 **Yusuke:** I have received chocolates from some of my female classmates.

 **Yusuke** : I appreciate the gesture, but at the same time, it does obligate me to return the favor in a month.

 **Akira** : Not yet.

I chuckled upon hearing Akira's response- innocuous to most of us but with a special meaning for me.

 **Ann:** Did you have me in mind, Akira? Sorry, but I'm not handing out any chocolate today.

 **Akira** : No.

 **Ryuji:** Why not, Ann?

 **Ann** : Don't take it personally, but even though Kamoshida's gone, I'm not sure everyone's been convinced that I'm not "easy."

 **Ann** : If I give out chocolate to one person, even a friend, some people might take it the wrong way.

 **Haru** : You shouldn't give out chocolate if you don't want to, Ann-chan.

 **Haru:** I can think of a certain young man that used to be engaged to me, who will not be receiving any chocolate from me.

 **Makoto** : Well said, Haru, and once again, congratulations.

 **Ryuji** : Huh?

 **Ryuji:** I thought we dealt with that creep when we stole Haru's dad's heart.

 **Haru** : Oh. I must only have told Akira-kun and Mako-chan about this.

 **Haru** : The short answer is that things worked, out, even if it took a little longer.

 **Haru** : I'll tell you more later.

I could guess why Haru was hesitant to tell us. Not only was it a personal matter, but she probably didn't want us to hear that we hadn't even ended her arranged marriage by stealing Okumura's heart, considering everything else that went wrong.

For now, I looked at the clock, and counted down the hours that remained until Shujin Academy let out. Akira wouldn't be available immediately once school was done for the day, but it was something to look forward to, so I waited eagerly in my room.

* * *

I walked into Leblanc in the evening, past the peak hours, and saw that the shop was deserted, as usual. As I saw Akira still working, with Sojiro supervising him, I froze up, knowing that everything I had to say to Akira would also reach Sojiro's ears. Unfortunately, the same went for the bell that rang when I opened the door, so both Akira and Sojiro turned to face me.

"Hey, Futaba," Akira said.

Sojiro looked me over, and immediately spotted the chocolates.

"I take it the chocolate isn't for me?" Sojiro said.

I shook my head, and Sojiro sighed, disappointed.

"Well, I'm heading out," Sojiro said, before turning to Akira and whispering "Don't get carried away, got it?" to Akira, just barely loud enough for me to hear it.

"Yes, sir," Akira said, as Sojiro walked out the door.

Mona quickly followed Sojiro, letting off what sounded like a cat's impression of a giggle. As the door closed behind him, I sighed.

"So Sojiro knows," I said. "I"m sorry, Akira, I-"

Akira laid a hand on my shoulder and shook his head.

"It's all right," Akira said. "I had the feeling he'd have figured out sooner or later."

"So did I," I said. "I was kinda hoping we could tell him first, though.

Akira nodded. This wasn't the optimal way of letting Sojiro know about us, but he wasn't worried.

"For now, though, let's enjoy this evening together," Akira said. "Sojiro might have mixed feelings about us as a couple, but he's willing to do this favor for us."

I nodded. I'd been waiting so long for an evening alone with Akira, so for now, I could forget about what Sojiro thought of us, or the day when Akira would have to leve.

Akira poured us both cups of coffee, and we sat down across from each other at a booth. As we did, I brought out the chocolate I'd bought for Akira.

"H-here," I said, and pushed it across the table They say actions speak louder than words, so there didn't seem to be much of a point in having a preamble to this act of giving Akira my chocolate.

"Thank you," Akira said. "I'll be sure to live up to this gift next month."

I smiled appreciatively. Akira's departure near the end of next month weighed heavily on my mind, but at least I had his chocolate to look forward to before then.

Still, something was bothering me, and I decided to get it off my chest so we could enjoy the rest of the evening.

"Anyway, I've got a question," I said. "You helped out Ohya and Makoto by pretending to be their boyfriend, right? Might you be pretending right now?"

Akira shook his head. He was nice enough not to interrupt, since he considered the question worth his attention, but he didn't even hesitate.

"Not at all," Akira said. "If you look closely, you can tell when someone's faking it. When Makoto and I teamed up to investigate her friend, her friend noticed pretty quickly that we didn't really have any chemistry. Of course, her boyfriend was laying it on pretty thick, and I think even she knew that. Ohya's boss wasn't fooled, either, and he redoubled his efforts to keep her from investigating his partner."

Now that I thought about it, Mom said that Sojiro was at his most charming when he wasn't trying to be. She said his curry made more of an impression on her than any of his lines because it was simple, honest, and the product of his hard work and culinary ingenuity.

"And what about us?" I said.

"The thing I most enjoy is when you're being yourself," Akira said. "I don't mind that you're a huge nerd who likes video games and sci-fi films rather than fashion and chick flicks. It was actually cute when you were tongue-tied for an entire minute or so when I told you that I liked you. Ohya's a valued partner and Makoto, along with Ann and Haru, are dear friends, but you're the one girl I love."

I smiled as all my doubts melted away. I had to wonder whether I'd doubted Akira because he wasn't there to tell his side of the story, just like how, after my mother's death, I allowed my life to be controlled by a piece of paper that supposedly had her writing on it.

"I see," I said. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Don't be," Akira said. "Trust isn't possible without some degree of doubt. In order to truly trust someone, you have to face and overcome all your doubts, proving that you're wrong to doubt that person."

I looked at him blankly, not fully understanding him. He, Sojiro and the rest of my friends were among the few I trusted, so I didn't get what it meant to trust someone in the way he was describing. It wasn't good to blindly trust, since I knew everyone I trusted had earned it, but at the same time, I didn't know what it meant to leave a little room for doubt.

"Let me give you an example," Akira said. "Back in July, when I was first looking into you, I actually wondered if Sojiro was abusing you, but found that hard to accept. Sojiro was a bit cold to me at first, but as I got to know him more, I found that he was a reasonable guardian, a good boss and potentially the closest thing I had to a real father. If he was so kind to someone he barely knew, would he really treat his own daughter so poorly?"

"Well, even I have to admit that it kind of made sense for Sae to come to that conclusion," I said. "It really wasn't healthy for me to stay in my room, and if Sojiro was forcing me to stay there..."

I didn't want to say anything more on that subject, and as Akira nodded in understanding, I realized I didn't have to.

"That's why I had to find out," Akira said. "Once I heard Sojiro's story about the two of you and your mother, I knew he was telling the truth. You were struggling with a scar on your heart that he couldn't get rid of by himself, so I became determined to help you for his sake as much as for yours."

I nodded appreciatively. Not a lot of people knew Sojiro the way Akira and I did, but those that did found him a trustworthy and reasonable adult to have on their side. Of course, I also realized we'd spent enough time talking about this, and decided to talk about something more pleasant.

"All right, enough of that," I said. "I've got some good news to share."

"What's that?" Akira said eagerly.

"Kana-chan's coming to visit Leblanc next month," I said. "I've got to learn how to be a good hostess to her."

"Well, I can help out, and so will Sojiro," Akira said. "What day is she coming?"

"The... twenty-seventh of March," I said.

Akira's expression sank, and I realized I hadn't considered when "late March" might be.

"That's a week after I go back home," Akira said. "I'm sorry, Futaba, but it looks like I won't get to meet your friend."

"Oh," I said. "Sorry, I should've asked about the date."

"That's OK," Akira said. "There might be a lot of stuff I still want to do in Tokyo- with you and with everyone else- but going back doesn't mean having to be apart. Our love survived my stay in juvie, so I think it'll survive us staying in touch long-distance."

"Me too," I said. "Besides, this time, they'll actually let us keep in touch."

As a child of the information age, I could appreciate the many new possibilities it brought about, bout until recently, I hadn't used many to keep in touch with fellow human beings. Of course, around the time I'd made friends, I'd also learned the value of spending time with each other in person, especially if it was with the boy I loved.

"Hey, Akira..." I said. "Can I sit next to you?"

"Certainly, Futaba," Akira said. "For the past fifty days, there was nothing I wanted more than to have you at my side again."

I sat down next to Akira, trying the "upward look pose" I'd heard about online, even though I knew I only had to be myself around him. Since it was only a time before we'd be hundreds of kilometers apart, I might as well take the opportunity to be at his side.

To be honest, it hardly seemed fair for me to have to part with Akira so soon after having him back. That said, I'd learned nothing over the past month and a half if not to live with Akira's absence, so I believed the strength of our shared memories and love would see us through to the day when we could reunite. Besides, we didn't have to say goodbye just yet, and even if I could count the days until Akira had to leave, we could make every day count.

* * *

 **Author's Notes  
**

Thank you for the reviews.

This chapter was a long time in the making, since I knew it would be a part of the fic from the beginning. I rewrote the reunion and Valentine's Day scenes to better fit the fic, but decided to gloss over the part where Morgana comes back, since it wasn't as important.

I'm leaving some details on Akira's parents vague, since the fic will end before they actually appear. It's implied that he doesn't have a very good relationship with them, though, given Sojiro's cynical comments about them getting rid of him for being "a pain in the ass," though, so it's likely that he's only returning home because he has to, rather than because he wants to. I may go into more detail about them and give them a backstory in another fic.

If not for the fact that Akira's going home, the fic would have ended right here. Since Futaba will soon be separated from Akira once again, though, the fic will continue through March 20, and have a brief epilogue after that, showing Kana's visit.

Now, here's a countdown in the style of Persona 5's mission deadlines

Days until Akira moves out: 33.


	9. A Serious Conversation

**Chapter 9: A Serious Conversation  
**

 _February 15_

Akira stopped by Leblanc to have breakfast on his way to school. Sojiro muttered "Good morning," when passing Akira his curry, but was quiet for a little while, long enough for things to get awkward, and for me to hope he'd forgotten about our date the previous night.

"There's something I want to talk with you and Futaba about after school," Sojiro said. "I think you know what it is."

"Us," Akira and I said in perfect stereo.

Sojiro nodded. He was the kind of dad who didn't like having to deal with kids who played dumb, so he appreciated that we already knew what he was getting at.

"Glad you two get it," Sojiro said. "For now, just keep this in mind- if I didn't want you two seeing each other, I'd tell you that, but if I didn't have reservations about it, we wouldn't be having a talk."

"Got it," Akira said. "I've got to head out, or I'll be late."

Sojiro nodded in agreement, knowing that while Akira had to be on time and he wanted to have this conversation with both of us present, neither of us were off the hook. We'd still have to face him in the evening, and we'd have to somehow convince him to accept our relationship.

* * *

During the day, we didn't say anything to our friends about what we'd discussed, except for Akira telling everyone that he had plans with Sojiro after school. Luckily, no one had any plans, so the others did their usual thing once school let out.

I spent most of the day searching online for information about how to tell your parents about your boyfriend, but didn't find much about introducing someone like Akira. Akira's past as a guy who used to be on probation aside, the problem wasn't that Sojiro didn't know or like Akira- he just wasn't sure that we were a good fit for each other. In some ways, this made things more difficult, since Sojiro knew about Akira, and thus couldn't be as easily persuaded as someone who was ignorant but open-minded.

Maybe it was because I wasn't going about it the right way, or maybe because I only spent a couple hours on it, but I wondered if looking into this would do any good. No one knew Sojiro, Akira and I as well as the three of us did, so maybe it was up to us to sort things out ourselves.

* * *

When Akira got home, we sat down in one of Leblanc's booths, across from Sojiro. He gave us each a cup of coffee, and I took a drink, even if I couldn't help but wonder if it had truth serum in it. After welcoming Akira back and briefly asking about his day, Sojiro got down to brass tacks.

"So, first things first," Sojiro said. "I've had my suspicions that you two were an item for a little while, but only knew when Futaba walked in yesterday night, with chocolate for Akira. How long have you two been going out?"

"Four months tomorrow," I said, and Akira nodded.

Since I didn't know if that was long or short by Sojiro's standards, I decided that the safest route was to be honest.

"October 15, huh?" Sojiro said. "When we went to visit Wakaba's grave in early November, I pulled Akira aside and asked him not to get together with you. Looks like I was too late, huh?"

"You were," Akira said. "I was always a bit worried about how getting together with her might affect living with you, so my original plan was to tell you after I got off probation and moved out."

I forgot about Akira being on probation sometimes. From the middle of October until Shido was finally exposed, we were too worried about Akira being rubbed out by the conspiracy to think about the consequences of him being on probation, and after that, we were too busy trying to get him released. Now, we were again reminded that he was only temporarily staying with Soiro.

"So why not just not get with Futaba?" Sojiro said.

"I couldn't help it," Akira said. "I saw a great deal of myself in Futaba- someone who's seen the worst in people but struggles to reach out to and help people, even though doing so is difficult for her."

"Neither could I," I said. "Akira's so nice and helps so many people out. I wondered if I was just like all of his other friends, but when he said he loved me... I was so happy I can't even describe it."

"Oh, so that time he helped you with your promise list?" Sojiro said.

"That's it," I said. "I knew, even if I had a lot of bad memories at school, that I'd have to go back, and asked for his help with various things, like going back to Akihabara or talking with other people my age."

"That's like Akira," Sojiro said. "I always knew he was the sort of guy who couldn't leave people who needed help in the lurch. But how'd you two end up together just from that?"

I paused.

"Well..." I said, "there was the last promise on my list, which was being okay without Akira around. I put it in so that I'd eventually be able to do all this without him, but over time, I realized that I didn't want to be separated from him."

Sojiro let off a long sigh. He remembered the conversation we'd had on Christmas Day about the promise list, and that took on a whole new level of significance now that he realized that Akira was my boyfriend.

"And what about you, Akira?" Sojiro said.

"As I talked with Futaba more one-on-one, I started getting interested in her," Akira said, "but I wasn't sure how to ask her out or whether she was even into guys. Then, on October 15, Futaba, after all but saying outright that she had a crush on me, asked me why I was helping her so much, and I said that it was because I loved her."

I started to blush deeply, remembering the time when I couldn't even say a word for a couple minutes after hearing Akira's confession. Too embarrassed to talk about it, I decided to get the point across as quickly as possible.

"And then I asked Akira if we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and he said yes," I said. "The end."

Sojiro smiled faintly, but then sighed and shook his head. As touching as the story of us getting together was, he didn't let himself get distracted by that, not when he was about to start asking the really tough questions.

"Maybe not quite 'the end,'" Sojiro said. "It's nice that the two of you felt the same way about each other, but is that all?"

"What else is there?" I said.

"What are you getting at?" Akira said.

Sojiro looked me in the eye.

"I'm gonna be honest with you, Futaba," Sojiro said. "Do you really think you're ready for a romantic relationship?"

"Well, we've all got to start somewhere, right?" I said, a bit flippantly.

Since Sojiro had never had a girlfriend, I had to wonder how he considered himself an expert on this sort of thing. That didn't deter him, though, and he continued right where he'd left off.

"Just think about this for a moment," Sojiro said. "You've hardly even had any friends until recently, except for that one girl from elementary school Wakaba told me about a couple times. As smart as you are, people like you are vulnerable to being manipulated and taken advantage of."

Sojiro saying this made me even madder than his first question did, since it sounded like it was about Akira, not me. Hadn't Akira earned Sojiro's trust after all this time and everything we'd been through together?

"I know," Akira said. "One of Makoto's friends was like that, falling for the charms of a promoter who wanted to use her and sell her off. People like that man target girls who are lonely and in desperate need of being accepted for who they are. Since the girl was being neglected by her parents in favor of her talented younger brother and didn't have many real friends, she was an easy target."

I couldn't help but think of my uncle again. Nothing could justify what he did to me or tried to do to Akira and Sojiro, but I had to wonder what it was like growing up in my mom's shadow. Maybe if he hadn't felt so inferior to her all the time, he might have developed a basis for a healthy sense of self-confidence, and become a better human being in the process.

"Yeah," Sojiro said. "I might not have been able to solve all of Futaba's problems, but the least I could do was do the best I could to treat her lovingly and fairly."

"But Futaba's not like that," Akira said. "She has friends, even apart from me, who will set her straight if she makes a mistake, like Makoto did for her friend. She has you, a father who values her for who she is rather than judging her for her talent, her potential or the lack thereof. Even if you're not completely sure about me, ask yourself- do you think there's anything to be worried about?"

Sojiro sighed.

"I've got every reason to be worried about Futaba," Sojiro said, "but when I think about it, I don't have any actual proof that getting together with you is a bad thing. My perspective is that of a dad who wants what's best for his daughter, but doesn't know the first thing about a successful relationship. It might sound like there's no way I'll approve of this, but I know that there's no reason for me to step in, at least not at this point."

"Do you mean...?" Akira said.

Sojiro paused, lost in thought for a moment. Maybe he was thinking about what he wanted to say or how to say it, but it took a few moments for him to finally speak.

"For now, I'll let you two going out," Sojiro said, "but if I think it'd be best for either or both of you to break up, I'll tell you that."

I let out a sigh of relief. The worst had been avoided, but this wasn't exactly the seal of approval we'd been hoping for. Akira was willing to take what he could get for now, though, and looked Soiro in the eye as he replied.

"I'll do what I can to ensure it won't come to that," Akira said.

Sojiro nodded.

"That's enough talking about this for now," Sojiro said. "I'm stepping out for a smoke."

Sojiro got up and walked out the door without another word. I wasn't sure whether he was actually going out for a cigarette or to give us some space, since smokers had the perfect excuse to take five whenever they wanted- although considering smoking was addictive, it was more like a need. Still, if he was okay with his daughter being alone with her boyfriend now, just like we'd been many times in the past, then maybe it wasn't too reasonable to expect him to come around and accept the idea of us one day being together for the rest of our lives.

* * *

After Sojiro stepped out, Akira and i went up into the attic together, and sat down on his bed.

"So..." I said, "what do you think? About what we talked about?"

"That actually went better than I'd hoped," Akira. "The only time I met Mitsuyo Togo, she warned me not to date Hifumi- not that I had any plans to, mind you- so Sojiro seems reasonable by comparison."

I nodded.

"I don't have anything to which I can compare this," I said, "but Sojiro was the one I was most worried about, and this isn't anything close to the worst-case scenario."

"True," Akira said. "Back when I first came here, he threatened to kick me out if I got into any trouble- from getting expelled to 'sampling' some of Leblanc's supplies- and it didn't help that with my first foray into Kamoshida's Palace making me over two hours late on my first day, I didn't get off on the right foot with him or the school. Back last spring, he probably told you I was a part-timer, right?"

If Akira was in Leblanc when I called Sojiro, then he probably would've guessed that Sojiro was talking to me by the time he learned of my existence and relation to Sojiro.

"Yeah," I said.

"It isn't hard to guess that even disregarding your... difficulties with others, he didn't want us meeting," Akira said, "and he only redoubled his efforts when we were looking into you. He even said that your uncle was just 'an old acquaintance' of his."

It was a bit unfortunate that Sojiro had so little trust in others. Not only was Akira trying to help me, but even Sae was trying to solve the mystery of the mental shutdowns, and finding the culprit of that case would have led her to my mom's killer.

"That sounds like something he'd do," I said. "I'm really glad that you were able to get close with him- he hasn't had anyone he could really talk with about personal stuff since Mom died and I shut myself off from the world."

Akira nodded.

"My point is that it may not look like it, but we've come a long way since then," Akira said, "just like most of the people I knew outside our group. A good portion of them were people who'd barely give me the time of day, but were willing to teach me various things in exchange for my assistance. Over time, they opened up to me, sharing their deepest secrets with me while being willing to keep mine. Sojiro and I have been through a lot together, which is why he's willing to give me this chance."

"I see," I said. "I was on the fence about telling Sojiro, but if he took it this well, then we can say it ended pretty well, right?"

"Right," Akira said. "It wasn't a complete success, but we could trust Sojiro to be reasonable enough not to try to break us up."

I nodded, but wasn't completely happy with the way things were now. Not only was Sojiro not completely behind us yet, but we still had to deal with Akira's parents. I had no idea how they'd react, and no reason to hope that they'd take it well.

"Yeah," I said, "but I can't say the same for your parents, so I'm not ready to tell them just yet. Are you?"

Akira sadly shook his head.

"As much as I'd like to say otherwise, I can't argue with you," Akira said. "We've never been very close, and being separated for a year has only widened the rift between us. As tempting as it might be to tell them to take a long walk off a short pier if they don't approve of you, it might be best to stay on at least somewhat decent terms with them as long as I have to live with them."

"Still," Akira said, "we should call together our friends and tell them, rather than keep them in the dark about us seeing each other."

"Good thinking," Mona said, as he peeked out of Akira's bag, startling me so much I almost fell over.

"Mona?!" I said. "How long have you been here?"

"All this time," Mona said. "I didn't think it was right to pop out while the two of you were talking things out with the chief or having a conversation about what he said."

Mona had some weird ideas about what it meant to be tactful or have good timing, ever since he casually walked into Leblanc over a month and a half after giving us the impression that he'd vanished for good. I hoped Akira would be able to give him some lessons on that while they were away, but that could wait for now.

"Oh, right," I said. "So how long did you know about us?"

"Not until last night," Mona said. "Whenever Akira met up with you or any of his other friends, I... what' s the term? Made like a tree and got outta there. Your secret's safe with me, even if I only recently found out about it."

"Gotcha," Akira said. "You'll only need to keep quiet for another day, until Futaba and I get everyone on the same page."

We started up an IM conversation, and asked our friends to come to Leblanc after school tomorrow. Luckily for us, everyone was available, and no one asked why we wanted to see them. We'd have many questions to answer tomorrow, so we were glad that for now, the others were keeping any they had to themselves until we could meet with and talk to them.

* * *

 _February 16_

We gathered the rest of the gang in Leblanc, although I was mainly concerned about getting all the girls there. Everyone showed up more or less on time, and once everyone was present, I decided to get right to the point.

"Thanks for coming, everyone," I said, "because I-I... I've got something... important t-to t-t-tell..."

I got so choked up with nervousness that I was stuttering and eventually stopped talking. Akira put a hand on my shoulder and spoke.

"Futaba and I wanted to let you all know that we've been going out for four months now," Akira said.

The others went silent, not sure of how to take the news.

"Way to go, man," Ryuji said. "So maybe you DID get a text from a girl back in Hawaii, am I right?"

"Not from the one I'd hoped to hear from," Akira said. "It was kind of a shame that we couldn't bring her along, even if we needed her to analyze Sae's data. Besides, while I was starting to hang out with Futaba, I wasn't ready to tell her how I felt just yet."

"Me neither," I said. "We'd started going out by the time of the school festival, though, so we managed to enjoy some time together while trying to get our minds off meeting with Akechi."

The late fall and early winter were a real nightmare, but spending time with Akira as boyfriend and girlfriend were definite bright spots in that time. In some ways, the worst part about Akira having to turn himself in on Christmas and go home in a month was that it meant that we wouldn't have much time to enjoy the peaceful period after Shido's defeat while in the same city, but such was life.

"I'm happy for both of you," Ann said. "Akira's a good friend, but just as much of one as Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana are."

Mona muttered something inaudible. I would've asked him to repeat myself, but then Makoto chimed in.

"The same goes for me," Makoto said. "Akira helped me out by pretending to be my boyfriend over summer vacation in order to help me help one of my friends, but I could tell that his heart was elsewhere. He hadn't really talked with Futaba at the time, save for our dealings with 'Alibaba,' but I could tell they had a certain closeness to them by the time I showed them around the school."

Just as I was starting to feel a little relieved, with two girls down and one to go, Haru sighed. I'd hoped that almost being married off to that jerk in the white suit had made her less interested in romantic love (read:Akira), but it had the opposite effect.

"I must confess that I'm a little jealous," Haru said, "not only of Futaba-chan, but also Akira-kun. It must feel wonderful to be able to choose who you love and have that love reciprocated."

My heart ached a little for Haru. I knew from Sojiro how hard it could be to have an unrequited love, even if he found Mom's rejection to be less painful than her death. As for Akira, he hardly seemed surprised, probably because he knew Haru a bit better than I did.

"Ah, yes, your fiance," Akira said. "If he had any reason to suspect you of infidelity, then he could threaten to break the contract."

"What contract?" I said.

"The contract that he supposedly signed with Okumura Foods regarding marrying me," Haru said. "It was an agreement for him to marry me that contained steep penalties for breaking it, and remained in effect after my father's death. Unfortunately for him, it was nothing more than a figment of his imagination- I should have called his bluff."

Haru honestly seemed a bit out of her depth in the business world, at least as she was now, since she came off as the kind who'd get tripped up by the fine print on business agreements. Sojiro was sharp enough to find out about my uncle being in debt without having to hack into his accounts, so maybe Haru could learn something from him.

"Takakura-san was able to see through Sugimura-san's lie," Haru said, "but it took some time for him to actually release me from the agreement, even without a binding contract. He called me to let me know he'd finally taken care of it while I was studying with Mako-chan at the Shibuya diner... shortly before we heard about Akira-kun being released."

"Finally," Ann said. "I'm glad we took care of that loose end."

"So am I, but I also pity Sugimura-san," Haru said. "He clung so desperately to the agreement he had with my father, even though my father was only using Sugimura-san as a tool for his own benefit, just like he used his company and his daughter. He was never a good person, but I can't help but wonder what kind of person he might have become if he had not been engaged to marry a wealthy CEO's heiress."

Haru seemed like a truly kind person at heart. She wasn't soft enough to forgive those who didn't deserve it, but she had a lot of empathy for others, even those we'd conclude were simply bad people. It must've been hard for her to decide that her father was too far gone that the only solution was to steal his heart, but that decision wasn't wrong.

"But back to what we were discussing before," Haru said. "I'd wondered if Akira-kun was 'taken' for some time, but was too scared to ask- of what Sugimura-san might do and of the idea that Akira-kun was uninterested or "taken." All that changed when Takakura-san noted that he thought I preferred Akira-kun to Sugimura-san."

"That's not saying much," I said. "I might be biased, but I can say that pretty much anyone would choose Akira over Sugimura."

I'd only met the real Sugimura once, but he was bad enough that I couldn't tell the difference between him and the cognitive version of him in Okumura's mind until he turned into a robot- and apparently, neither could Haru. The fact that Okumura would marry his daughter to Sugimura despite knowing what kind of person Sugimura was made me decide Okumura deserved a change of heart, even if he wasn't responsible for the mental shutdowns.

"Quite true, Futaba-chan," Haru said with a smile and a soft giggle, before turning serious. "Still, he got my hopes up, and Akira-kun had to let me down for your sake. I'm glad Akira-kun was faithful to you, or I'd have lost my respect for him. It's just..."

Makoto laid a hand on Haru's shoulder.

"Haru and I have been meeting fairly often since the start of December," Makoto said, "not just to study for exams, but also to talk about various things. She was very supportive of me when we were infiltrating my sister's palace, so I owed it to her to return the favor."

"Your situation with your sister reminded me of mine with my father," Haru said, "so I'm glad that Niijima-san's back to who she was before, and the two of you are getting along again. Besides, I couldn't share this with Akira-kun without making him feel guilty."

An awkward silence descended on us. All of Akira's suitors had shared thier piece, so no one had anything left to say, and none of us were quite sure how to respond to what Haru had said.

"By the way," Haru said, as if to change the subject, "how is Boss taking this?"

"He isn't totally happy," I said, "but it could be worse. He's a bit worried about whether Futaba's ready to start going out with anyone, but he's willing to give us the benefit of the doubt until he finds any reason to do otherwise."

"At least some scrutiny is understandable," Inari said, "since he simply wants what is best for his daughter. Parenting involves a balance between letting one's children make their own choices and giving them guidance so they will not make the wrong ones- the former helps children develop decision-making skills, while the latter is necessary until they gain the life experience their parents have. As such, it is only fair for Boss to want to determine whether Akira's relationship with Futaba is a healthy one."

"Yusuke raises a good point," Makoto said. "The reason I had Akira pose as my boyfriend was to check on my friend's boyfriend, and my suspicions proved warranted. As such, I can understand your father's perspective- perhaps my father would have similar opinions on any boyfriend I brought home, if he were still alive."

"True," Akira said. "All we can do is show Sojiro that we have nothing to hide, and there's no reason for him to disapprove of us."

"That sounds like a good approach," Makoto said. "Since it's two of my friends, I may not have the same standards as Boss might have for his daughter, but I believe that Boss doesn't have any concerns now, and if that changes, he'll let you know."

Akira and I nodded, recognizing the terms of Sojiro's promise to us.

"Speaking of concerns," Ann said, "does the fact that Akira's moving out in a month count?"

"Good question," Akira said. "Keeping in touch with Futaba and maintaining a long-distance relationship will be a challenge. If we're not up to it, I suppose Sojiro can just let our relationship fizzle out without doing anything, but if we are, then I doubt he'll be able to complain."

It was reassuring hearing Akira put it like that, since if we thought about it that way, we now had a means of earning Sojiro's approval. Problems never seemed insurmountable once you had some idea of how to solve them, and just as we'd gotten Akira out of juvie, we'd convince our families to accept us being together.

The others started asking us about our relationship, and we shared everything we felt comfortable talking about. Our problems were far from over, least of all the fact that Akira would have to leave in a month, but it was nice to finally be open about the fact that we were going out. If nothing else, this proved we could trust Sojiro and our friends, and count on their support with whatever came our way in the future.

* * *

 **Author's Notes  
**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

I imagine that Sojiro would want to talk things over with the protagonist and Futaba, but he ultimately would have been reasonable in spite of his reservations. As for their friends, some of them might be a bit sad that Akira didn't choose them (Haru seems to take Akira's rejection the worst).

Haru and Makoto seem fairly close, and I suspect that Makoto's the first person Haru would turn to for anything she can't talk about with Akira (i.e. Akira rejecting her).

It's a bit of a shame that Futaba's only story-related dates are Christmas Eve and Valentine's Day. Even Haru's available at the school festival, and that's before her Confidant opens up (back in Hawaii, you've run into her a few times but don't know her name yet).

There's only a few chapters left, as well as a few remaining story elements- Futaba getting ready to start school, White Day (essentially, the day when men give chocolates to women), the game's ending and a brief epilogue.

 _Days until Akira moves out: 31_


	10. A Step Forward

**Chapter 10: A Step Forward  
**

 _March 4  
_

Before long, February ended and March began. I spent a lot of time with Akira, who took me to all sorts of places we hadn't been to before, like the seaside park, Dome Town and the planetarium in Ikebukuro. Tokyo was so big that you could probably spend a lifetime in there and not see everything, which almost made me wonder why I'd wasted so much time in my room. Now that Akira would be leaving in a little over two weeks, I felt as though I didn't have time to waste, so I made the most of every day Akira would still be here.

It wasn't all fun and games, though, and one thing I forgot to mention was going back to high school. The entrance exams were a piece of cake, so the only steps left were to get a uniform and get officially registered. Once my going to Shujin was a done deal, Sojiro got my sizes, then called and ordered a girls' uniform for me.

The uniform wasn't in my top picks for clothes to wear, but once I put it on, I felt like a student again. Even though I knew about everything that came at school- bullying, isolating those who are "different," apathetic or mean teachers, and so on and so forth- for a moment, I felt like I'd taken another step toward taking my life back, the reason why I made the latest promise list in the first place.

* * *

The morning I got my uniform and tried it on, I took a selfie while wearing it, and sent it to Kana-chan.

 _Hey, Kana-chan, I got my uniform today. Here's a picture.  
_

Before long, Kana-chan sent me a response. On Saturdays, she only had work in the afternoon, so she had time to message me today.

 _Wow, looking good, Futaba-chan!_ _I'll send you one of me._

Kana-chan sent me a picture of herself that she'd taken with her phone. Her hair was the same raven black that I remembered, but she'd grown it out since I'd last since I'd seen her. Unlike me, she now wore contacts to correct her brown eyes' vision, rather than the glasses I remembered. Her uniform was a charcoal gray blazer-style uniform with the school crest on the lapel, worn with a white dress shirt and a red and blue diagonally striped necktie that apparently had the school colors.

 _That's a nice-looking uniform, Kana-chan._

Kana-chan replied fairly quickly.

 _Thanks._ _You can hardly tell that it's second-hand._

It was a bit of a depressing reminder that Kana-chan's family's financial situation was even worse than mine. Sojiro might often say no to some of my more extravagant requests, but even if he was often strapped for cash, at least he wasn't in debt, like the Magarios were. Kouta and Asami might deserve the consequences of living beyond their means, but Kana-chan sure as hell didn't.

 _Yeah, it's gotta be a pain that they make you pay for uniforms._

Kana-chan paused a little while. I wondered if I hit a sore spot, but she was pretty forthcoming about how her family was in debt once she started talking again, so she didn't mind.

 _I suppose, but it's actually nice that I won't be judged for not being able to afford stylish clothes. Besides, I actually kind of like my uniform- it's conservative, professional, and says "Look, I'm a high school student." That last part's more important to me than you think, considering how hard I worked to get here.  
_

Kana-chan had a good point. This past year, while her parents had been treating her worse than ever, she'd wanted to go back to school, even though she'd had just as rough a time there as I did. Like me, she'd taken her life back, and was now proud to call herself a high school student- maybe I should, too.

 _You're right, and so did I. These next three years are gonna be tough, but let's work hard together._

I wrote down this promise for future reference. There would be many difficult times ahead, and I hoped that it, like my promise notes, would motivate me to continue to try hard, even when it was difficult to do so.

* * *

In the evening, I started up a IM conversation with the group, and told them about how things were going on the "going back to school" fronnt.

 **Makoto** : I'm pleased to hear that you're going back to school.

 **Makoto** : Shujin's reputation has been tarnished because of recent events, but other schools have similar problems.

 **Ann** : I agree.

 **Ann** : Ryuji, Shiho, Akira and I might have been unlucky to run afoul of Kamoshida, but there are people like him elsewhere who didn't get caught.

Now that I thought about it, Kamoshida was the one who got us all started as Phantom Thieves, when Akira and Ryuji stumbled into his Palace and met Mona in the dungeon. He did some awful things and deserved to go to prison, but maybe, Akira meeting him was a good thing for all of us.

 **Futaba:** I've got a question.

 **Futaba** : Am I gonna have to call you guys "senpai" now that I'm going to your school?

 **Ryuji** : Nope.

 **Ann** : Makoto and Haru are fine with just being called by name, so the same goes with Ryuji and I.

 **Haru** : Ann-chan is right.

 **Haru** : Besides, Mako-chan and I are graduating this year, so "senpai" only matters for students who are in the school at the same time.

 **Yusuke** : I must admit that getting that degree of respect from youwould be a pleasing prospect.

 **Yusuke:** However, since we are going to different schools, I am not your senpai, and as such, am in no position to demand that you call me that.

 **Akira:** Me neither.

 **Futaba** : Thanks, guys.

 **Futaba** : It's already awkward enough calling the people I used to go with "senpai," so I'm glad I don't have to treat you guys any differently.

 **Makoto:** Personally, as a Phantom Thief, my status as student council president, an honor student and a third-year ceased to matter.

 **Makoto** : Since we became friends through that, we shouldn't feel as though we should concern ourselves with things like that.

I thought back to when we'd decided to steal Mementos' treasure to prevent Shido's allies from using it. At the time, I'd been scared that we'd drift apart without our common allegiance to hold us together, but so far, that hadn't proved true. We didn't know what the future would bring when we went our separate ways, but our bonds were deeper than the mission we shared, and I hoped they'd keep us together for many years to come.

* * *

 _March 5  
_

Sojiro scheduled a visit to the high school for today. Even though I wasn't a student yet and school wasn't in session today, he made me wear the uniform, since he said they wanted to take a picture of me.

"This brings back memories," Sojiro said. "It's been almost a year since I drove Akira here for the same reason."

"Yeah," I said. "Akira told me that men aren't usually allowed in your passenger seat."

"That's because he's probably one of the few men who got close to me," Sojiro said. "Other than you, Akira and Wakaba, I don't think _anyone_ has sat down there."

I giggled. Sojiro was hardly a social butterfly, and his gruff and blunt personality didn't do any favors- he was even fairly brutally honest about the fact that he was brutally honest.

"Of course, in all seriousness, I'm gonna ask you to take the subway once you start going to school, just like Akira did," Sojiro said. "You'll have a student pass, of course, so you won't have to pay when going between Yongen-jaya and Aoyama-Ichtome, so the commute to school's free. Just make sure you're on time on your first day, though, unlike Akira."

"Yeah, about that..." I said. "You do know that he got dragged into the Palace back then?"

"I do _now_ ," Sojiro said, "but it was so hard to believe back then. Besides, with him being treated like a criminal, the last thing he needed was to start off on the wrong foot. It was my job to keep him out of trouble, and that's what I tried to do, even if I didn't go about it the best way."

It was obvious that now that I was going to school, Sojiro saw it as a second chance of sorts, to do a better job with me than he thought he had with Akira, and connect with me in a way he hadn't while I was still a shut-in who was grieving and blaming herself for her mother's death. Both of Akira and I were really lucky to have someone like him looking after us, though, so he didn't have to worry about that too much.

* * *

Once at the school, Sojiro and I headed to the principal's office, although it'd be more accurate to say that the inhabitant was the interim principal. After Principal Kobayakawa suffered a mental shutdown and got hit by a truck, the former vice-principal filled the role while the school looked for a replacement. Since he'd probably been one of those who turned a blind eye to Kamoshida's actions, I got a bad feeling about him the moment I saw him.

The guy gave a standard orientation for new students, talking about the first-rate education this place offered. Enough time had passed since the Kamoshida incident that the school could start trying to treat it as a thing of the past. Sweeping it under the rug stopped being an option once Kamoshida confessed in front of the entire school, but they could minimize how much people talked about it.

Sojiro and I filled out some paperwork together, and I took a quick look at the school rules. With all the things that weren't allowed here- although "stealing hearts" wasn't officially one of them- it was amazing that Akira had managed to stay out of trouble as long as he had, save for the time Kamoshida tried to get him expelled on trumped-up charges.

A school photographer took my photo for the student directory and my student ID, and issued me the latter. Once he did, I noticed that it looked like my middle school ID, which I'd discarded over a year ago. At this point, everything seemed familiar, and I wondered if high school was just middle school with tougher classes and the impending choice between higher education and the workforce. For some, those choices were easy, while others couldn't see any good options.

I had to admit I was luckier than many of my peers, who, as incoming second-years, would have to seriously think about these sorts of things. I could see why people might be jealous of me, but many of them were popular and good at sports, unlike me. We all had to struggle with various things, so it didn't make sense to begrudge others for what they could do well.

* * *

On the way out, we ran into one of Akira's teachers, Sadayo Kawakami, a brunette with short ruffled hair whose outfit, a yellow top and denim skirt, was a bit more casual than most of the other teachers' clothing.

"Oh, Sakura-san," Kawakami said. "What brings you here?"

"She does," Soiro said, gesturing toward me. "This is Futaba Sakura, my daughter, and I came here to officially get her enrolled here."

"I see," Kawakami said. "I'm Sadayo Kawakami, Kurusu-kun's homeroom teacher. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san."

I looked blankly, a bit confused at Kawakami addressing me the same way she addressed Sojiro.

"Sorry, she changed her last name some time ago," Sojiro said. "That's all I feel comfortable saying without her permission."

Kawakami nodded. It was natural for teachers to be privy to some aspects of their students' private lives while only realizing they were the tip of the iceberg. I was personally keeping my knowledge of that Takase guy's tragic story a secret, as well as the knowledge of how Kawakami was a maid.

"Whether Isshiki or Sakura, it's been a long time since anyone's called me by my last name," I said. "When they say 'Sakura-san,' I usually assume they mean Sojiro here."

"Ah," Kawakami said. "You'll probably get used to hearing your last name with an honorific fairly quickly, since they're trying to be polite. It's best if you reciprocate the courtesy, at least until you get close enough to get on more familiar terms."

I nodded, but pondered what Kawakami had said. Akira and Kawakami trusted each other, but Kawakami kept a certain distance from him, simply because they were student and teacher.

"Speaking of which, Ms. Kawakami," Sojiro said, "I wanted to thank you for getting some of the Shujin faculty to speak out in support of freeing Akira. It's nice to see teachers stand up for their students, especially when that student is a guy I know."

"I appreciate your kind words, sir," Kawakami said, "but I didn't help that much. Not many of the teachers joined me, and the ones who did seemed to join because it'd look bad if they didn't."

From what Akira told me, his teachers went with the flow, admiring our various targets until they fell from grace, and joining the public as they clamored for the Phantom Thieves' heads to roll. As such, it was pretty obvious that hardly any of them could be counted on to support their students out of any sort of principle, with perhaps one exception.

"That's not really surprising," Sojiro said. "But what about you?"

"I personally owed it to Kurusu-kun to help him in some way," Kawakami said. "When he first got here, I bought into everyone labeling him as a delinquent, repeating the same mistake I'd made with a student who... passed away some time ago. Kurusu-kun never seemed to give up on me, though, even after our rough start and hearing about my past mistakes, so I believed he didn't deserve to be treated like that."

I remembered a few details about Kawakami's old student. Apparently, the guy had been exploited by his guardians, and was forced to work for them to pay off their debts, until he died in a car accident. The guy sounded like he was really hard working, so I didn't get how a guy like him could be labeled unfavorably, but I was probably missing some information there.

"I'll see you at school, Sakura-san," Kawakami said, "and I hope I'll have you in my homeroom when you get to your second year."

"Me too, Ms. Kawakami," I said.

I'd never really liked teachers, seeing them as more authority figures than people who wanted to help me. Ms. Kawakami was different, though, since she seemed to do her job for the students, rather than just for a living. Kawakami was honest with me, had done her best to help Akira, Takase, and her other students, and even if she made mistakes, she did what she could to move on and do the right thing, rather than get bogged down in guilt. I couldn't tell how my first and last years of high school would go, but I'd at least have a teacher I could count on in the year in between those.

* * *

On the way back, Sojiro got stuck in traffic for the third time in a year- and this time, I was in the car with him. As Sojiro stopped behind the last car, he cursed under his breath as it slowly dawned on him that he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, and neither would the cars that were pulling up behind him..

"Not again..." Sojiro said.

"Well, at least you're in good company," I said, looking around and seeing all the other cars that were backed up. "It wouldn't be a traffic jam if everyone else weren't trying to use this road."

Sojiro chuckled.

"True," Sojiro said. "It sometimes makes me wonder why I bother with owning a car."

The traffic wasn't showing any signs of moving, and I could faintly hear on the radio that we were stuck in another jam- too late for it to do us any good.

"So, what do you think?" Sojiro said.

"I'm not really enthusiastic," I said. "If a teacher like Kamoshida can get away with what he did for so long, then it doesn't seem like a good sign for how much the students or faculty care about doing the right thing."

"I know," Sojiro said. "It doesn't mean they're bad people, though, just as scared and oppressed as you might be."

I had to conclude that all our heroics as Phantom Thieves were only possible because of the powers that had been bestowed upon us, a power we had since lost after our epic battle with Yaldabaoth. Now, we were just like everyone else, struggling to get by while remaining true to ourselves and our ideals.

"I guess," I said ."Still, I suppose I want to do better than just going with the flow ."

Sojiro nodded, as the traffic finally started to move forward a little. He'd realized that his harsh stance with Akira had been a mistake, and that sticking up for others was no. He didn't know what I should do, but he felt compelled to encourage us in his own way, so I was glad that he did.

* * *

We got back home, where Akira was waiting. Akira sat in one of the booths, working on a coffee-themed crossword puzzle, while Mona watched him. For once, he was the one with abundant free time, while I was busy with school-related stuff.

"We're back," Sojiro said.

"Welcome back," Akira said to Sojiro before turning to me. "So, Futaba, what do you think?"

"Of the school?" I said. "I'm not exactly enthusiastic so far, and I think you've got some idea why. It doesn't help that everyone I know well, except two or three people, has graduated or transferred out."

"I know," Akira said. "The best part about the school is all the people I met there- Ryuji, Ann, Shiho, Mishima, Makoto, Haru and Ms. Kawakami. Unfortunately, the fact that there were good people there doesn't make it a good school- in fact, most of those people had at least as hard of a time as I did."

"Yeesh, can't you try to put a better spin on it?" Sojiro said. "At this rate, Futaba's gonna have second thoughts."

If Sojiro was hoping Akira would do a better job of selling me on going to school, he'd be disappointed. Akira's time at Shujin Academy had been anything but ordinary, from making an enemy of Kamoshida to faking his own death, so the only way he could wholeheartedly say anything good about it would involve a fair bit of lying. Akira was too cynical and honest to do something like that, though, so he decided to put another spin on it.

"How about this?" Akira said. "Futaba, it may be true that you might not make many- or even any- new friends there, but in life, we often only meet a handful of people who truly matter to us. I might be leaving, but I'll keep in touch, and you still have everyone else, so feel free to rely on your friends when things get tough."

I nodded appreciatively, and Sojiro listened in silent approval.

"One more thing," Akira said. "You might want to try talking to a guy called Kaoru Iwai if you get a chance. He's an incoming first-year like you, and you might end up having some things in common."

I didn't know what this Kaoru guy's story was, so I was tempted to ask Akira, but I thought better of it. My intuition told me that he, like me, had his secrets, and Akira was serious about keeping what Kaoru said between them. The full story would be up to Kaoru to tell when and if he opened up to me, but from what I hard, I was interested in at least talking to him, taking the first step to opening up to new people.

"Gotcha," I said. "I'll keep an eye out for an 'Iwai' in my class roster."

A part of me still didn't want to go to school, although I knew I wasn't alone in thinking that. Some reluctant students were lazy, others had trouble making the grade, still others didn't fit in, and there were myriad other reasons. It was a reasonable guess that among all those students, I'd find one with whom I could connect, just like I had with Kana-chan all those years ago. There were a lot of reasons why I didn't like school, but it was always nice to think of one reason why it might not be so bad, after all.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Thank you for the reviews.

Shujin Academy is probably the worst school I can think of in Persona 3-5, at least in terms of the school environment. The administration is highly corrupt and a teacher who verbally and sexually abused his students went unpunished for years because he created a climate in which most people felt helpless. Your schoolmates can often be heard spreading malicious rumors in the early game, especially about you and Ann, and they, quite hypocritically, get on Makoto's case for not doing anything about Kamoshida.

In the Persona series, the concept of "senpai" seems to be more relaxed than in some parts of Japanese society, and the only obligation seems to be that the kohai address their senpai as such (although Makoto does lament that she's not able to be a good senpai to you on your Ferris Wheel date), and the Persona 5 third-years don't expect even that.

I decided not to include Futaba's studies for the high school entrance exams, in large part because she's smart enough that those are trivially easy for her, and partly because the game isn't very clear on when those take place, although Kaoru spends much of the game going to cram school to prepare for his.

Next up is White Day. We're almost to the end of the fic.

 _Days until Akira moves out: 14_


	11. A Favor Returned

**Chapter 11: A Favor Returned**

 _March 13_

We had the gang over at Leblanc again, and this time, the subject was Akira going home. As much as we would've liked to enjoy our remaining time together as friends, we also had to prepare for his departure, so a lot of our get-togethers were planning meetings instead of social outings. It was a bit disappointing to have to spend so much time dealing with business even though we weren't investigating targets or planning heists anymore, but such was life.

This time, after everyone got here and was ready to start the meeting, Ryuji took the conversation in a surprising direction.

"So Akira's leaving a week from today, right?" Ryuji said. "Is that the day he's gotta leave, or the day he's gotta be back by?"

Normally, at least one of us- probably Mona- would mock Ryuji for asking a stupid question, but no one did. We all realized that as preoccupied as we were with the day Akira would be moving back home, we'd never asked about a detail like that, so we let Akira respond.

"The former, Ryuji," Akira said, "although my parents would like me back home in a somewhat timely manner, their lack of enthusiasm about it notwithstanding. Why do you ask?"

"I've been thinkin'," Ryuji said. "Instead of sayin' goodbye to him at the station or something like that, why not drive him home?"

The group looked around at each other and nodded in approval. Ryuji wasn't the kind who really was good at deep thought, so he'd probably thought of the plan just after hearing Akira's answer. It wasn't a bad plan, though, even if it needed a bit more though to work out

"Not a bad plan, Ryuji," Ann said, "but do any of us have a license or a car?"

Makoto and Haru fit the bill, but Haru seemed like the kind who got chauffeured around, so it was down to Makoto. Luckily for us, Makoto spoke.

"I believe I can do it," Makoto said. "I'll arrange to rent a van to take Akira back home."

"Sounds like that'll cost a bit," I said.

"It will," Makoto said, "but while I would appreciate if people chipped in, you shouldn't feel compelled to pay for it if you can't."

Makoto was hesitant to say who couldn't fit the bill, but she didn't need to. The most obvious choice was a certain orphaned art student who had some odd strategies for making ends meet, but there was also the adoptive daughter of the owner of a struggling coffee shop, a guy with a single mom and possibly the younger sister of an up-and-coming prosecutor.

"I'll take care of it," Haru said. "Perhaps that would be simpler and fairer than deciding who can pay and who cannot."

"Really, Haru, you don't have to do this," Akira said. "I could just go back the same way I came here."

"But then you would be taking on the expenses by yourself, wouldn't you?" Haru said. "Besides, I'm sure everyone here, especially Futaba-chan, would like to see you home safely."

Everyone nodded, and spent the rest of the day discussing the particulars of renting the van. There was nothing we wouldn't do for one of our own, especially when it came to our leader. Because we couldn't do anything to keep him from having to turn himself in, we did everything we could to secure his release. Now, even if he had to leave, the least we could do was give him a great send-off.

* * *

 _March 14_

White Day arrived. When i did internet research on Valentine's Day, I got ticked off at the idea that girls would have to give chocolate without getting any in return, but that only lasted until I read about the payoff- namely, White Day. Now that i thought about it in terms of delayed gratification, it was easier to accept.

Apparently, I was the only one who was getting chocolates today. None of the girls in our group had given out any chocolate, so none of the guys were under any obligation to reciprocate, unless Ryuji giving chocolate to his mom counted. The others were more or less fine with being dateless, though, and even Haru seemed to be coming to terms with Akira having chosen me.

When we asked what everyone's plans were, "conveniently" enough, everyone else besides Akira had somewhere to be after school- Ryuji was going running, Ann had a modeling shoot, Yusuke was working on a new painting, and Makoto and Haru were going shopping for school supplies for college together. That wasn't entirely unheard of, since each of us had things to do, but when it happened to all of us on a single day, it was either a bizarre coincidence, or their way of showing consideration to me and Akira.

* * *

After school, Akira and I met in my room. Akira reached into his book-bag, which didn't seem to have Mona in it, and took out a box.

"Here you go," Akira said.

"Thanks, Akira," I said. I looked over the container, which seemed like a simple heart-shaped box. The fact that it wouldn't draw people's attention in a store, caused me to instantly conclude that Akira had bought it himself for home-made chocolates. Opening it up, I saw several small heart-shaped chocolates.

I took one of the chocolates out and ate it. It had a simple yet rich flavor, the kind that wasn't made by a machine mixing together ingredients in a factory, but by a first-timer who probably had some expert guidance. Home-made items could vary in terms of quality, so it seemed that I lucked out. Akira, however, obviously had more than luck on his side if he made chocolate that was this good.

"Wow, this is great stuff, Akira," I said. "Did you make it yourself?"

Akira shook his head.

"Not by myself," Akira said. "Sojiro helped me."

"Sojiro?!" I said. He was still at the "grudging tolerance" stage when it came to our relationship, so I was surprised that he was actively helping Akira.

"He went on about how he didn't want his daughter getting food poisoning," Akira said. "That said, I think he wanted me to succeed, which is why he pitched in."

I wasn't expecting to hear this. This might have been a good chance for Sojiro to put Akira to the test, but instead, he nudged Akira toward the best possible outcome. Maybe, for all his grumpiness and apprehensiveness about our being together, Sojiro was rooting for us after all.

"You look surprised, Futaba," Akira said. "Is it really that unusual that your father wants what's best for his daughter?"

"Not at all," I said. "I'm just glad that he thinks that means supporting the two of us."

"So am I," Akira said. "If nothing else, I think this means we've earned his support. We still have many trials to overcome together, but I'm glad we overcame the first major one."

We soon changed the subject and enjoyed White Day together. Days like this came once a year, and it might be even longer than that before we could see each other again, so there was no point in wasting them worrying about what came next or what others might think about us. All that mattered was spending it with the guy I liked and enjoying the tasty chocolate he made.

* * *

Not long after Akira returned to his room in Leblanc's attic for the night, Sojiro got home. I wondered if Sojiro had seen or had a talk with Akira on his way back, but after hearing about Sojiro helping Akira, I wasn't too worried about what they had to talk about.

"I'm home," Sojiro said.

"Welcome home, Sojiro," I said. "Thanks for helping Akira make the chocolate."

"Shouldn't you be thanking him?" Sojiro said.

"I did," I said, "but I know the chocolate turned out great because you helped out, and we wanted to let you know how much it means that you're supporting us like this."

Sojiro chuckled. He'd been trying to play it off, but now that it wasn't an option anymore, he had to get to the point.

"I'm gonna be honest," Sojiro said. "I'm still having a bit of trouble with the idea of you two being together. Still, if you have to get together with someone, it might as well be with someone already I know about and like, so I'm hoping things work out between you two."

"Even if he's leaving in six days?" I said.

Soijro nodded, which was reassuring. He'd been up front with us about his concerns, but I needed some confirmation that he didn't think that us being in a long-distance relationship would be a problem.

"Yeah," Sojiro said. "I always knew the kid was 'on loan' when I was first asked to look after him, which might've been part of the reason I stayed distant at first. It might've taken me a while to warm up to him, but I"m glad I did so."

"So am I," I said.

For all Sojiro's concerns about how Akira's relationship with me might turn out, I never doubted that he cared for Akira as a member of a family, even if he preferred to think of him as a son, not a son-in-law. With a starting point that was this good, then it wouldn't be that much of a task to get Sojiro to fully approve of us being together.

"But anyway," Sojiro said. "I hope you've had a great evening with Akira, and that you make the most of the next few days together. Just don't get too carried away, OK?"

"Yes, sir!" I said with a mock salute.

Nothing could be done about the fact that Akira would have to leave, or the fact that he'd have to do so soon. We couldn't turn back, stop or even slow down time, but we could make the most of what we had left.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

This chapter's fairly short, but there's only so much I can do in the part between Akira's release and departure before the story starts to drag. With this, the last loose ends- the group planning for Akira's departure and Akira giving Futaba chocolate- are taken care of. All that's left is for Akira to leave and for Futaba to once again deal with his absence.

As for White Day, I suspect that the reason neither P4 nor P5 showed it (apart from the parts where the P4 hero makes and distributes chocolate in the February 15-March 19 montage in P4), is that it would've caused the pacing to drag at the end of the game. For this fic, the entire story takes place in the calm period between the final battle and the end of the game, expanding on the parts that have to be cut out, so White Day is an important part.

The next and penultimate chapter will involve Akira leaving.

 _Days until Akira moves out: 6._


	12. An Inevitable Parting

**Chapter 12: An Inevitable Parting  
**

 _March 18  
_

The day of Akira's departure was coming up, looming just like our various deadlines for stealing Palace treasures. Like in those cases, even the knowledge that we'd accomplished our goal couldn't dispel our sense of unease, and the same held true for Akira leaving us. Of course, we still had things to do until that day came.

We went to the Shujin Academy graduation ceremony for Makoto and Haru. Makoto gave an address as outgoing student council president, stressing how important it was to be honest with yourself, go outside your comfort zone and do the right thing, even when all of these were difficult. It was a nice speech that was spoken from the heart even though Makoto never mentioned or alluded to being a Phantom Thief, for obvious reasons.

That speech was also one that Makoto could only have made as student council president. From what I'd heard, she'd never really liked being president, and she thought of herself as a failure, but it wasn't entirely bad. She was able to give me a tour of Shujin, was able to meet Akira and the other Phantom Thieves, and now, could give her fellow graduates a lesson that was more useful, or at least more personal, than most of what the teachers taught. Maybe that was proof that all your experiences, even the unpleasant ones, could benefit you in some way if you were willing to learn from them.

After we were done, it was time for us to take some pictures- Makoto and Haru individually, the two of them together, Makoto with Sae, and all of our friends. I was glad that we could all be together like this, but it made me wonder about next year. Ryuji and Ann would be graduating from Shujin- even with their grades, they'd still probably advance a year- but Inari would be graduating from Kosei, and Akira would be graduating from his home town's school, which had apparently rescinded his expulsion. Makoto would be attending Tokyo University, but since she was the only one of us who stood a chance of getting in there, with the possible exception of me, who knew where everyone else would wind up?

Of course, that was far in the future, at a time when it seemed like my starting school in a few weeks would be pretty far off, too. For now, there was little I could think of besides the day Akira would be leaving. I was past the point at which I could ask whether he had to go, and at which I could think of any excuses for him to stay, so the only thing left was to accept his departure, even if all the time in the world didn't seem to be enough for that.

* * *

 _March 19_

The day before Akira had to go home, he stopped by Leblanc for breakfast like he usually did, wanting to start his last full day in Tokyo like he did any other. So did Sojiro, at least until he made his first remarks apart from the usual pleasantries.

"You should go see your friends while you have the chance," Sojiro said. "It might be the last chance you have to see them for a while."

Akira didn't argue. It was tempting to assume that everyone he liked would always be there for him, but everyone's lives took them in different directions. I knew I'd be here for at least the next three years, but how many of Akira's friends could say the same?

"I will," Akira said. "But first, here's my probation diary."

Akira reached into his bag and produced a black bound book, handing it to Sojiro. Sojiro opened it up and skimmed it- given how many pages he flipped through, it seemed as though Akira had written a lot of entries in it.

"Thanks," Sojiro said. "I'm honestly surprised that you kept up with it, even after everything, but I'm glad that you did."

"Yeah, he was really diligent," Mona said. "I was kinda hoping it'd be enough to get people to change their mind about him, but it isn't that easy to restore your reputation after being convicted, is it?"

We all remained silent at that. Going through life on probation was hard enough even without everything that Akira had to go through in the course of the year, and the worst part was that his probation came back to haunt him at the least opportune moment, thus requiring him to sacrifice his freedom to ensure that we remained safe and Shido was punished. Still, all of us were glad that for the sake of his justice and the well-being of innocent people, Akira had forsaken the easy road and chose to be a "Trickster" who challenged authority to do what was right.

Sojiro took the diary and opened it up, nodding silently.

"Ooh, what's inside?" I said with a sly grin.

Surprisingly enough, even though my remark was largely a joke, Akira took it seriously and nodded.

"Go ahead and look," Akira said. "I wrote it with the assumption that other people- including but not limited to Sojiro- would be reading it. While there's a lot about me and a little about you, there isn't anything about _us_ in there."

"I didn't think so," Soiro said. "Futaba and I are gonna be here all day, so you should go out and find the others."

"Got it," Akira said. "I'll see you in the evening."

Akira walked out the door, flipping the sign outside to "Open" as he left. I knew he'd be back by the end of the day, but I felt uneasy, knowing that our last free days together had ended, and tomorrow, we'd be taking him home.

After Akira left, I opened up the diary and flipped to the first entry.

 _April 9- I moved in with Sakura-san._

I flipped ahead to July, and didn't see anything about Alibaba or Medjed. In August, he mentioned that I came over a few times, and that we went to the beach together, but nothing about what we did. At this point, I was starting to suspect that he only provided names to corroborate his account. October 16- the day he confessed to me- was simply "Futaba came over," and our first "date" on November 1 was "I visited Futaba at the Sakura house."

The entries after November 18 were mostly a bunch of lies, and couldn't be confirmed by anyone's accounts. I think all these were a last-minute addition just in case anyone checked. He had a few more entries after Shido's confession, but his entry on Christmas Eve only talked about meeting with Sae, and the entry on Christmas Day simply read "I turned myself in to testify against Shido."

"Wow, this was surprisingly boring," I said.

"Like he said, this is just his public face," Sojiro said, "the version of him without all the parts that aren't socially acceptable. If you want proof that he trusts you, it's not him letting you see this, but everything else about him."

It was kind of amazing that Akira trusted Sojiro as much as he did, even if it took Sojiro a little while to earn that trust. Sojiro was essentially Akira's probation officer, and the person most responsible for his behavior, so it wouldn't have been unusual for Akira to write him off as just another cog in a system run by rotten adults. The fact that they trusted each other was possible because they each knew that the other was more than they seemed, so Sojiro had a point there.

Sae walked in just after that, and I quickly put the diary away, while she ordered a house blend from Sojiro.

"I saw Akira-kun walk by a little while ago," Sae said. "He said h was going to say goodbye to all his friends, and even made time for me."

"I'm glad he did," Sojiro said. "You and I might've had our differences, but we couldn't have done it without your help."

"Thank you," Sae said. "Still, I feel as though I should be able to do more for you, so I'd like to give to you what I just gave Akira-kun."

Sae reached into her bag and handed Sojiro a business card.

"Thanks," Sojiro said, "but I think you already gave me-"

Sojiro stopped short as he read the card. It looked a bit like the one he'd gotten in July-a bland but professional-looking design with the kanji for "Sae Niijima," and her contact information- but there was one notable difference. In the place where the old one said "Prosecutor," this one said "Defense Attorney."

"I imagine this comes as a surprise," Sae said, "since at this point, only Akira-kun and Makoto know about this. I felt they deserved to be the first to know, since they were the ones who helped rekindle my desire to fight for justice."

"You sure about this?" I said. "I heard the conviction rate in this country's something like 99.9 percent."

"That's a statistic I'm hoping to change," Sae said, "but I suspect that I won't be able to do so as a prosecutor. You said my Palace was a casino in which the tables were rigged?"

"Yeah," I said. "Kinda a fitting metaphor, right?"

"I suppose," Sae said, "but I've started thinking about it differently. What if, rather than being ruler of the Palace and champion of the casino, I'm just another gambler struggling to advance, even though the odds are against me?"

I honestly hadn't thought about that. Even though we hadn't changed her heart, the real Sae was humbler than I'd imagined her, so maybe she'd believed this all along. Our targets' Shadows showed them at their worst, but maybe that wasn't the entire story.

"Yeah, you didn't seem like as much of a big-shot as the other targets we took on, even if your desires were distorted," I said. "Anyway, what caused you to think this?"

"I learned some disturbing things about my former boss," Sae said. "Not only was he conspiring with Shido, but he had also engaged in various illegal activity to prosecute some of his cases. If someone like him was responsible for authorizing promotions and case assignments, then the 'game' of getting ahead at the prosecutor's office was fixed from the start."

"Probably," I said. "Makoto also said the fact that you were a woman had something to do with that."

Sae shrugged.

"That is true," Sae said, "but if you blame your lack of success on that alone, you're only making excuses. From what I heard, your mother was a remarkable woman who refused to let others' judgments of her- as a woman or as a single mother with a child out of wedlock- hold her back. I would have loved to have known Wakaba-san, but I'll have to settle for following her example."

Having recently broken out of my shell and started working toward taking my life back, I couldn't help but root for anyone who turned over a new leaf, especially when they drew inspiration from my mom.

"Go for it," I said. "I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you, Futaba-chan," Sae said with a warm smile.

Sae finished and paid Sojiro, but I couldn't help but think about what she said. Maybe starting over could also be a good thing, or at least an opportunity. Akira didn't have any say in whether he could go back home, but he could make the most out of it- I certainly hoped so, and given how well he'd fared in Tokyo, I didn't doubt that he would.

* * *

A few hours later, Akira got back. He'd spent most of the day walking around Tokyo with Mona, saying goodbye to his fellow Phantom Thieves and other allies. Apparently, all of them had plans of their own, and were scattered all around Tokyo, so it had taken a while to track them all down. In spite of that, he'd managed to see everyone he knew by the end of the day, and returned home as the sun was starting to set.

"I'm back," Akira said as he walked in the door.

"Welcome back," Sojiro said. "You finish seeing your friends?"

"Yeah," Akira said. "It was nice hearing what they've been up to, and what they plan to do from here on out. They gave me a few things to remember them by."

"Well, how about I do the same?" Soiro said. "I remember you saying that you might miss the curry, so here's the recipe."

Sojiro handed a sheet of paper to Akira, one that he'd gotten out of the kitchen.

"Thanks, Sojiro," Akira said, "but are you sure about this?"

"I already taught you, didn't I?" Sojiro said. "Besides, I have the recipe memorized."

"You know, Sojiro, you could just photocopy it," I said, "or use your phone to take a picture of it. Here, look."

I had Akira show me the recipe and took a photo of it, making sure the text was legible.

"Good thinking," Sojiro said. "To think I'm old enough to remember a time when the only thing you used phones for was to talk with people."

"No wonder the chief had a hard time believing all the stuff about Mementos," Mona said, sticking his head out of Akira's bag.

"Ah, yes," Sojiro said. "The cat's going back too. I'm gonna miss that little guy, even if I could never understand him."

"Well, it was pretty convenient for me," Mona said. "I could say what I wanted without people finding out."

"Hey, Futaba?" Sojiro said. "What'd he just say?"

"Let's see..." I said. "I hope Akira's parents can afford to leave me some fancy sushi, unlike a certain someone."

"Hey!" Sojiro said.

As much as I enjoyed having one last bit of fun at Mona's expense, I realized his situation was pretty depressing. Only seven people out of seven billion could understand what he was saying, and now he had to choose between staying with his closest friend and with everyone else. Maybe that was why he had such a hard time telling other people about his troubles, since he didn't have anyone to talk with before he met us.

My mind kept focusing on the "last" part, and the fact that I didn't know when I'd see Akira or Mona again. Akira could stop by and visit, but while Sojiro was receptive to the idea, the same might not hold true for Akira's folks. Maybe they were strict enough that they'd consider Akira meeting with his friends to be nothing more than a distraction from his studies for an entrance exams, or controlling enough that they couldn't tolerate him leaving without their approval. Maybe this wasn't anything more than the worst-case scenario, but there was plenty of evidence for it, so it wasn't exactly unfounded.

We had one last dinner together, during which we discussed our itinerary for the drive home. After dinner, Akira went upstairs to pack, and I turned to Sojiro.

"Something on your mind, Futaba?" Sojiro said.

"Yeah," I said. "Do you know Akira's folks at all?"

Sojiro shook his head.

"Not really," Sojiro said. "I might've told you this before, but they know one of my customers. That's all the connection I have- I haven't met or spoken with the Kurusus."

I sighed. Sojiro's customers weren't exactly his friends, so he didn't know them well. It was nice that Sojiro had taken Akira in, even though he was more or less a stranger, but it also meant he wouldn't be able to answer my question.

"I see," I said. "I was hoping you might be able to tell me more about them."

Soijro sighed. It was obvious he wasn't any happier about this whole situation than I was, but he also didn't know what to do, eithr.

"You're worried about Akira, right?" Sojiro said. "I can't blame you, but he's the one who knows his folks best, so he's probably got things figured out- or at least I hope he does."

"Maybe," I said. "My feelings for Akira aside, it'd be a bit easier to let him go home if he missed his parents or his hometown, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

Sojiro shrugged.

"There's a lot we don't know, but I'm sure of one thing," Sojiro said. "Even if you kids are separated by distance, you can still stay in touch, especially in this day and age with all your high-tech gadgets. Maybe no one who's waiting for him really cares, but all of you do, and you can be there for him even if they won't."

I knew an old-timer like Sojiro appreciated the value of face-to-face interactions, but I didn't argue with him. It was finally nice to be able to see a silver lining in all this, and have something to be thankful for, rather than something more to complain about. With that in mind, I could think of one more such thing- that Akira hadn't gone home yet- and went upstairs to talk to him.

* * *

I went up to Akira's room for what might be the last time in a while, and saw him packing some stuff away, even though he'd already finished up everything but the essential last night.

"Still got some stuff to put away, Akira?" I said.

"Yeah," Akira said. "Like I said, I've got some more stuff to pack away, thanks to my friends giving me gifts."

"Then how about one more?" I said, and I held up the promise list he'd helped me complete. "Mom always told me to keep around my completed promise lists so that I'd have a sense of accomplishment, but since you helped me on this one, it's only fair that you have it."

What I left unsaid was that after my falling out with Kana-chan, I started feeling guilty about the promise lists that piled up, with "Get along with Kana-chan" checked off even though I hadn't actually done that. I kept on lying, though, less for the reward and more so that I wouldn't have to disappoint Mom. That was all in the past, though, and even if it was a little late, Kana-chan and I were finally friends again.

"Thanks, Futaba," Akira said, as he filed it away in a manila folder full of personal papers. "It's just a thought, but why not write your own promise lists?"

"My own?" I said. "Who's gonna give me a reward?"

"Well, Sojiro could," Akira said, "but you could also treat yourself. I've heard about lots of people who set goals, and promise themselves rewards when they reach those goals."

"Good idea," I said. "I'll have to move out of Sojiro's place someday, so it'd be good if I have good habits by then. Of course, it'd be nice if I could move in with you, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would," Akira said with a smile, "but what I'm really saying is that I'm sure you'll be fine without me, at least when it comes to managing your life."

Akira meant that as a compliment, but I wasn't happy to hear it. It was true that I could do a lot of stuff without Akira around, and I had managed during the time Akira was in juvie, but that didn't mean I like it. Sojiro and I had come to terms with Mom's death, but both of us wished she was still here with us, and even Shido getting what he deserved wouldn't do anything to change that.

"I guess," I said. "It's not easy, though."

"I know how you feel," Akira said. "I'm not leaving because I want to, but if all my friends, especially you, are going to do well, I'll be able to do so without feeling as though I've left any unfinished business."

Now that I thought about it, I'd always, on a logical level, accepted that Akira had to leave. His probation and our mission as Phantom Thieves were over, and as such, he had to return to his own life, such as it was. Of course, even if my head had accepted it, my heart was still having trouble.

"I get that," I said. "It's getting late, so I'll head back. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"See you then, Futaba," Akira said.

I quickly left before I could completely break down crying. The last thing I wanted was for Sojiro to think Akira had made me cry, when it was quite the opposite. He'd made me so happy while we were together, and the thought that this happiness would be over for a while was almost unbearable.

* * *

 _March 20  
_

After another night in which I had trouble getting to sleep, I woke up as my alarm clock blared. As soon as I got out of bed and checked my phone, which had "3/20/2017" as the date, I started wishing this was all a dream, but seeing an IM from Makoto about our meeting location forced me to accept that this was reality long enough to get dressed, have some breakfast and head over to Shibuya..

Before long, I reached Shibuya, apparently getting there ahead of Akira. Near the crosswalk, I found an old blue van parked, and Ryuji and Ann waved me over. Everyone was in their positions they often had in the Morganamobile- Makoto was driving, Ann was riding shotgun, and the guys were in the middle row (although Ryuji was the only one there at the moment)- so I got in the back seat with Haru.

Soon afterward, we saw Akira walk up with Inari, and we waved them over.

"So, now that everyone's here, what's keeping us?" I said once the two of them got in.

"The engine died," Makoto said. "Morgana's busy fixing it."

I chortled at the idea of a cat working on a car, but was cut off as Ryuji looked over his shoulder.

"Don't look now," Ryuji said, "but there's some guys in suits who're checking us out."

I checked the rear-view mirror, and saw a dark car a few meters behind us, close enough to follow us easily. the drivers were wearing suits, and appeared to be talking on a radio with someone.

"Are they cops?" I said.

"I hope so," Ryuji said. "They're probably plainclothes detectives."

"If they had a warrant, they'd already have come over to have a 'talk' with us," Makoto said, "but since they don't, all we need to do is act naturally."

Mona, as much a master of stealth as a cat as he was as a... humanoid cat thing, suddenly leaped into the car.

"The problem's fixed," Mona said. "All it took was a new plug, and I knew just the place to find one."

Makoto started up the car, which roared to life on the first attempt with the ignition

"That did the trick," Makoto said. "Nice work, Morgana."

As we started on our journey to Akira's hometown, I looked in the rear-view mirror, and saw a car with its engine stalling, the same suspicious one that Ryuji had notice. It wasn't hard to figure out how Mona had "acquired" the plug that he needed. This would likely be a minor setback, and Akira would possibly be hounded by people who hadn't forgotten what he did in spite of his record being expunged, even in his hometown. Still, it was always fun to put one over on rotten adults, so we had a good laugh about this as we drove onto the ramp, toward the toll road out of the city and where they couldn't follow us.

* * *

 _March 22_

We spent two and a half days on the road in one final outing with our group, enjoying the sights, taking some pictures, eating at various places along the way, and sleeping in motel rooms. Since Akira and I weren't at "that" stage of our relationship just yet, I stayed with Ann, Makoto and Haru shared another room, and the guys got a third room.

It was fun to spend this time with everyone, but the GPS counting down the distance until our destination served as a constant reminder that our time together was limited, just like my calendar's note for March 20 had.

Eventually, we reached the apartment complex where Akira lived before coming to Tokyo. It was a small two-story building with apartments side-by-side. We'd seen more buildings like it that I could count, so I didn't believe that this was it, even when the GPS said that we'd reached our destination, until Akira spoke.

"Well, we're here," Akira said.

We all got out to stretch our legs for a little bit, and Akira went up to the door to his apartment, which was on the ground floor. He tried the handle, rang the bell and knocked, but none of them gained the attention of he occupant.

"Something wrong, Akira?" Ryuji said. "We're at the right place, aren't we?"

"We are," Akira said, "but Mom isn't home. She should be expecting me today, though."

Makoto checked her phone, and showed us an email that Akira had forwarded her, showing the address of his parents' address- or rather, his mother's, now that his father had moved out. At the same time, Akira checked his email.

"I got an email from my mom," Akira said. "She's going to be working a bit late, so she left a key under the mat."

"You sound pretty happy about that," Ann said. Since Ann apparently didn't see much of her parents, to the point where she sympathized with how I wanted to see more of my mom while she was alive, her confusion was understandable.

"Well, it's probably for the best," Akira said. "If I went up to her and said, 'Hey, Mom, I'd like to introduce my friends, most of whom are the kinds of people you wouldn't be caught dead with and one of whom is also my girlfriend,' that would be awkward, to say the least."

"Just ditch Inari and we'll be fine," I said.

"I resent that," Inari said while shooting me a glare. "I'm simply a young man who's passionate about art. At the very least, I'm far from the most eccentric in this group."

We giggled at Inari's reaction for a moment, but once we were done, I sighed as the conversation turned serious again.

"All joking aside," I said, "Akira does know his parents best. I was hoping for some better news about my possible future mother-in-law, but if Akira thinks it's best that we not introduce ourselves for now, let's do as he says."

Since I hadn't learned anything about Akira's parents in the conversation I'd had with Sojiro the night before we left, I tried to see things from Mrs. Kurusu's perspective for a moment. Maybe she was hoping Akira would put this chapter of his life behind him, even if he'd never see anyone he met during his year on probation ever again. Maybe she was worried about the effect associating with people like us would have on Akira's reputation, which hadn't fully recovered after his exoneration. Maybe she, someone who hadn't known Akira like we had, had more trouble believing in his innocence. Maybe she knew something we didn't. I wondered if this was all wistful thinking, but hoped that I'd be able to talk with Akira more over the months and years to come, and maybe someday understand his parents.

For now, everyone agreed with me. We'd achieved our goal together, bringing rotten adults to justice and saving the world from an evil god, but we knew our troubles were far from over. In Akira's case, this was a Kurusu family issue, but while we couldn't directly interfere, we could hear him out, give advice and ensure that he knew that whatever his parents thought of him, he had our unconditional support.

Makoto checked her watch. Apparently, the time was later than she thought, and while she hated to say goodbye to Akira and Mona as much as the rest of us did, the time had come to part ways with them.

"Oh, why don't we go pick up some gas at the station over there?" Makoto said., pointing a couple blocks down the road. "Futaba, you can come to the station once you're done saying goodbye to Akira... oh, and Mona."

I was tempted to point out that the tank was almost full, since we'd stopped for gas only about 10 kilometers back, but thought better of it.

"Gotcha," I said.

"Thanks for everything, guys," Akira said. "Have a safe trip home."

"Thank you, Akira," Makoto said. "I look forward to seeing you and Morgana again."

"See ya around!" Ryuji said.

"Please take care of yourself, Akira-kun, Mona-chan," Haru said.

"Until we meet again," Inari said.

"Later!" Ann said.

"I'll see you again, everyone," Mona said.

Akira and Mona watched the van as it drove away, and pulled into the parking lot of the gas station. While I'd be seeing the rest of the guys again in a few minutes, it would likely be months before Akira and Mona did, so I realized the parting was that much harder.

"I'm gonna take a walk for a little bit," Mona said.

"Go ahead," Akira said. "Just don't go too far, since you don't know this place well yet."

"Gotcha," Mona said. "I'll see you around, Futaba."

Mona quickly walked off before I could give him some of my TLC, so I turned back to Akira.

"That was nice of them," Akira said.

"Yeah," I said. "Of course, even if I can say goodbye to you by myself, it's really just delaying the inevitable."

"I know," I said. "As much as I've wanted to forget about you having to go home for the last month and a half or so, it's always been on my mind. It should be easy to say goodbye for now and hope that we'll see each other soon again, but..."

My words were cut off by a sniffle as the self-control I'd been practicing for the past few days reached its limit. I reached out and embraced Akira, wanting to hold him close and not let him see the tears that had started streaming down my face.

"I love you so much..." I said, "and I really want you to stay with me, Sojiro and all our friends. I know your home isn't in Tokyo, and that I have to let you return there, but I still don't want you to leave."

As my tears fell onto Akira's chest, I felt his left arm embrace me, and his right hand pat me on the head. This time, it felt exactly the same as the way my mom used to do it, or at least the difference didn't matter anymore.

"Neither do I, Futaba," Akira said. "After spending a month and a half in solitary confinement, cut off from you and the rest of our friends, I'm not ready, either."

I murmured in agreement. I felt a little selfish, as though I was acting like I was the only one suffering, when Akira had it worse. He was leaving behind his girlfriend and most of his friends besides Mona, while I was just saying goodbye to the two of them.

"That said," Akira said, "now that the time's come to say goodbye, I think I've finally realized what I've always found so inspiring about you."

" _I'm_ the o-one who i-inspired _you_?" I said.

"Yes, you did," I said. "I've always known that once my probation ended, I'd have to return to parents, teachers and former friends who'd cast me out, and it would be an uphill battle to reclaim my life. You, however, faced your fears, and began trusting people again, opening up to Sojiro and your friends, reconnecting with Kana and working toward going back to school again. You knew things would be hard for you because things were hard in the past, but you didn't let that stop you."

"I didn't do any of that alone," I said. "Even when you were locked up, the others helped me. I got Mitamura's name, but Ohya found her, and Makoto and the others convinced her to help us."

"No one can accomplish something like that by themselves," Akira said, "but the fact that all of you succeeded helped show me that success was possible for an endeavor like that. I've got a lot of work to do this coming year, but I'll keep in touch with everyone, and keep thinking of you, especially when things get difficult."

"So will I," I said. "I just wish I didn't have to be content with that."

"Me too," Akira said. "Still, you made a promise, didn't you?"

"Yeah," I said. "It's gonna be hard, but just like I waited for you to get out of juvie, I'll wait for you to come back for us, cherishing the memories we made together until that day comes."

"I won't keep you waiting too long," Akira said.

We shared a goodbye kiss. We would be separated for a long time, but I hoped this memory would stay with me for years to come.

I then moved to break our embrace. I'd put it off long enough, but now, the time had finally come for us to part ways. This was just as difficult for Akira as it was for me, so I had to take the initiative and get going.

"I've... got to get going," I said. "The others are waiting for me."

Akira nodded, and handed me a pack of tissues for my eyes and my glasses. Of course, even after I cleaned up, my face would still be a mess.

"All right," Akira said. "Just remember, Futaba- I love you, and I hope we'll see each other again soon."

"So do I, Akira," I said. "Well... until then."

I took one step, then another, then ran off, trying to hide my tears. Saying goodbye wasn't any easier than it had been on Christmas Eve, but it was a bit easier in some regards. I'd been able to do so properly this time, Akira would be free, and we could keep in touch. I didn't know how long I'd have to wait to see him again, but I'd waited for Akira before, and could do so again.

I headed over to the gas station, where the others were waiting. They didn't ask any questions about my face, but Haru laid a hand on my shoulder, possibly knowing that if Akira had loved her instead of me, she'd be the one who'd have to go through this. She offered to lend an ear if I needed one, an offer that our other friends also extended.

Of course, we were all dealing with the same experience of saying goodbye to an important friend, and all our feelings were the same. They all missed Akira and wanted him back as soon as we could. I'd had help with all the other items on my promise list, and counted on their support while Akira was incarcerated. Akira might be gone for a long time, but with the rest of my friends at my side, I felt I could do anything, even fulfill the last promise I made with Akira.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

Regarding the conviction rate statistic, not only is this referenced in the Casino dungeon, but it's also heavily shown in the Ace Attorney series, where Phoenix and the other defense attorneys must overcome almost insurmountable odds to exonerate their clients, in a system that heavily favors the prosecution. Sae has more than a little in common with Miles Edgeworth in her gradual shift from idealism to cynicism and back (both of them are influenced by the deaths of their fathers), and her relationship with Makoto has a few similarities to Lana's relationship with Ema- despite the older sister seeming cold in both cases, they care for their siblings.

The "goodbye" scene with Sojiro and Futaba, as well as the ending, were both scenes that had to be significantly rewritten to fit with this fic. Futaba has come to terms with Akira leaving, even if she isn't happy about it, so she probably won't ask if he really has to go.

I was tempted to expand upon the road trip, but I decided that the best thing to do for the pacing would be to describe what happened without showing it in much detail. In the course of writing this fic, I've had to make quite a few decisions on what's best for pacing, especially which shows to show in detail and which to mention briefly.

One more chapter remains- an epilogue in which Kana visits Leblanc.

 _Days until Akira moves out: 0_


	13. A Promise Fulfilled

**Epilogue: A Promise Fulfilled  
**

 _March 27  
_

I waited by myself at the Yongen-jaya station, along with a bunch of other people who were waiting to get on the train, and an old couple who seemed like they were waiting for their son, since they were holding a sign saying "Satoshi." I'd gotten used to being in crowds this large, so my nervousness was mainly due to the fact that this would be the first time I'd meet Kana-chan in years.

When Kana-chan stepped off the train, I recognized her immediately based on the picture she sent, although it was a bit of a surprise to see her in person. She'd grown a lot since I last saw her, and she was a couple centimeters taller than Haru. Her chest had filled out a lot, to the point it was almost as big as Ann's- unfortunately, I could think of a lot of people who found this more interesting than I did. She wore a conservative outfit of a loose long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, and carried a bag that contained the essentials.

"Hi, Futaba-chan!" Kana-chan called out as she noticed me in the crowd and started walking over.

"Hey, Kana-chan!" I said. "Glad you could make it."

"It was quite a trip," Kana-chan said. "Luckily, my parents were open-minded about me traveling this far, as long as I paid for it myself."

"They wouldn't have let you do this before?" I said.

Kana-chan shook her head.

"Not really," Kana-chan said, "as apart from all the 'jobs' they had me do, which ate up a lot of my free time, they didn't like the idea of their kid having her own desires and any amount of autonomy. It's hard to believe that it hasn't even been half a year since they had their hearts changed, huh?"

I nodded. A lot had changed in the past year, and even the past three months, so the only prediction for the near future that I could make with any confidence was that I'd be starting high school in early April, with a lot of boys and girls a year younger than me.

"People don't change overnight," I said, "well, most of the time, that is."

Kana-chan giggled.

"Yeah, that's why I knew the Phantom Thieves stole my parents' hearts," Kana-chan said, before turning seriously. "But you're right, Futaba-chan. Our experiences and the kind of person we are determine the kind of person we become, but if we want to change, we really have to work at it."

I nodded in agreement. While I knew _how_ the changes of hearts and removal of distorted desires affected people, I'd always wondered _why_ that worked. The most plausible answer I could come up with was that people's distorted desires stopped them from feeling guilt for their actions or empathy for their victims, and once that was removed, their conscience was finally able to go to work and make them feel the guilt that any normal person should feel.

Of course, with Kana-chan, the implications were simpler. She realized that her parents couldn't have accepted responsibility for their actions and changed unless it was forced on them, which is why she wasn't ready to forgive them. As for Kana-chan herself, she wasn't much of a social butterfly back then, and while she'd gotten to know a few incoming first-years at her school, she probably wouldn't have a lot of friends.

"You got that right," I said. "C'mon, let's go."

I ushered Kana up the stairs to Yongen-jaya and we walked through the streets.

We headed into Leblanc, where Sojiro was tending the shop, and Ann, Ryuji and Inari were waiting at the counter. Apart from them, the shop was as empty as it usually was, so I had to wonder if Sojiro remembered that I was having Kana-chan over.

"Well, here's everyone," I said. "This is my adoptive dad, Sojiro Sakura. These are Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki, who'll be third-years at Shujin Academy when school starts up again."

"I'm Yusuke Kitagawa," Inari said before I could introduce him, "in the same year as Ann and Ryuji, but at Kosei High School, not Shujin Academy."

"My name is Kana Magario," Kana-chan said. "I'm pleased to meet all of you."

Kana-chan bowed to her new acquaintances, before sitting down across from me at a booth. Given how close she and I were, I'd forgotten that she was pretty polite when it came to people she didn't know well- it took a while to get her to call me "Futaba-chan" instead of "Isshiki-san," after all.

"A couple people couldn't make it today," I said. "There's Makoto Niijima and Haru Okumura, who are starting university, and had to go to their school to deal with some business. There's also Akira Kurusu- the guy I mentioned to you earlier- who moved back home with his cat, Morgana."

"So you've known Futaba for a while, right, Kana-chan?" Ann said.

"For several years, Takamaki-san," Kana-chan said. "We first met in elementary school, but we drifted apart for a while, only to come back together recently."

"That's great," Ann said. "My best friend from middle school moved away a while back, but we still keep in touch."

Kana-chan wasn't willing to mention why we'd broken up- that I'd accidentally found out about her parents abusing her and asked her about it- than Ann was willing to mention why Shiho moved away- that what Kamoshida did to Shiho traumatized Shiho so badly that she attempted suicide in front of the entire school. Trust wasn't built overnight, and while Kana-chan and I trusted each other, it would take a long time for her and the rest of our friends to trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets, if they ever did.

For now, though, I was glad Kana-chan got along with my other friends, and we spent several minutes making small talk to break the ice, mainly discussing each other's schools. Eventually, though, Ann checked her watch and realized how much time had passed since we'd stated talking.

"Oh, that reminds me," Ann said. "The three of us have plans for today."

"We do?" Ryuji said, getting him a glare from Ann. "Oh, yeah, we do."

"Ok, then you should probably get going," Kana-chan said. "It was nice meeting you all."

"Likewise," Inari then. "Well, then, let us be off."

"Nice meeting you too, Kana-chan," Ann said.

"Later," Ryuji said.

The three walked out of the cafe. As they left, Kana-chan turned to me.

"Your friends were very considerate," Kana-chan said.

"Yep," I said. "I knew it'd be best to introduce them to you, but it was nice of them to give us time to catch up with just the two of us around."

"I agree," Sojiro said to Kana-chan. "Well, I've got to go to the store, so make yourself at home."

Sojiro stepped out, closing the door behind him and flipping the sign to "Closed." A minute or so passed in silence, until Kana-chan, aware that no one was around, decided to speak.

"Anyway, Futaba-chan, there's something I wanted to ask you for a long time now," Kana-chan said, "but I wanted to wait until we could meet in person, and alone to do it."

"Shoot," I said.

Kana-chan looked around to double-check whether anyone was there, then leaned in close and whispered to me.

"You're a member of the Phantom Thieves, aren't you?" Kana-chan said.

I was caught off-guard for a while over how suddenly and bluntly Kana-chan had asked the question, but then nodded with a slight chuckle.

"Bingo," I said. "How'd you guess?"

"Well, in hindsight, I found it odd that the Phantom Thieves found my parents without knowing their names," Kana-chan said. "I suppose the one most likely to have figured it out was you, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "I couldn't ignore rotten adults like that, especially not when I had a lot to make up for. I guessed it was you based on your IP address, the data involved and what you wrote about them, so once I knew that, I had to act."

"I'm glad you did," Kana-chan said, "but really, I should've been the one who initiated contact with you."

"No, really, that was something I had to do," I said, "to face up to my past and fulfill the last promise I made to my mom that I'd never completed. Because I'd done that, I could honestly tell Mom that we were getting along when Sojiro, Akira and I visited her grave in November."

Kana-chan didn't argue with that, or even say anything at all. She'd already heard about my mom's death, having seen her obituary while searching for "Isshiki" online. While I'd gotten to the point where I was able to talk about my mom's life and her death, I was glad that Kana-chan understood me well enough that when I alluded to either, I didn't have to spell things out.

* * *

I took Kana-chan to Shibuya today. We had lunch at the diner, and I paid for both of us. We went to the arcades, and while Kana-chan had never had much time for video games, she was a pretty fast learner. We went window shopping at a couple stores, and Kana-chan was perfectly fine with the fact that a lot of the stuff was out of her price range.

All in all, Kana-chan seemed to have a good time, which was a relief. I was a bit worried about how to be a good hostess, since I'd never had any guests over before, so I went with what came naturally to me. Maybe that was the best choice, so now I knew what to do when I next had her over.

In the evening, we got back to Leblanc, and I showed Kana-chan to her room.

"So, here's your room," I said. "I know it's a little shabby and run-down, but hey, you get what you get."

"It's actually a lot better than the room I have at home," Kana-chan said, "which is just one reason why I never had you over."

I nodded grimly. If Kana-chan's' parents treated her that horribly, the only reason they would have had to be nice to houseguests would be to keep up their facade of being decent human beings.

"Well, Sojiro says it was a real pigsty when Akira first moved in," I said, "so you should probably thank Akira for getting it into good condition, even if he didn't do it for your sake."

I'd always wondered how Akira was able to pick up my room so quickly without me noticing, until I learned about the state his room had been when he arrived. They said men couldn't do housework, but there were always exceptions to every rule, especially with a non-conformist rebel like Akira.

"That makes sense," Kana-chan said. "If you're going to stay in an attic for a year, you might as well make sure that it's a nice place to live in."

"True," I said. "Well, I'll see you in the morning, Kana-chan."

As Kana-chan said good night to me, I remembered her last comment. Akira had once told me that, in retrospect, while each day was full of new surprises, and he didn't know whether he'd be alive, much less in compliance with his probation, at the end of the year, he did what he could to make sure things worked out. That kind of mindset would serve him well in his hometown, so Kana-chan had, possibly without realizing it, given me reason to hope for the best.

* * *

 _March 29_

Two days after arriving, and one day after we spent a day in Akihabara together, Kana-chan had to go back home again. I knew it was a short visit, but I was still sad to see her go, even if it was easier to accept than Akira leaving.

The two of us headed for the station first thing in the morning after breakfast. We reached the platform with a few minutes to spare, so Kana-chan stopped to say goodbye to me.

"Thanks for having me over, Futaba-chan," Kana-chan said. "You can visit me if you'd like, but you'd have to get your own hotel room- like I said earlier, my parents aren't exactly the best hosts."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, "although there's a certain someone I'd really like to see again, so I'll probably go visit him if I have the chance."

Kana-chan nodded in understanding, and I was glad that she didn't take it personally that for me, seeing her was a lower priority than seeing Akira. Unfortunately, Golden Week wasn't really feasible for him, but we'd have other chances to see each other, and the same went for Kana-chan.

"That reminds me," Kana-chan said. "How's your boyfriend?"

"He's doing well," I said. "Getting back into his old life's been tough, but he says keeping in contact with me and everyone else makes it easier for him. His relationship with his folks... isn't great, but at least they're better parents than yours."

"That's good," Kana-chan said. "I'd bet that he'd like to be back here with you, as well as the rest of his friends, but it sounds like he's managing over where he is now."

"It's the same as with us," I said. "It'll probably be a while before we can see each other like this again, but as long as we keep in touch and keep each other in our hearts, it'll make it easier to wait for that day to come."

"Same here," Kana-chan said, before turning around. "Well, my train's here. I'll keep in touch, Futaba-chan, and hope to visit you again soon."

"See you later, Kana-chan," I said, as I waved goodbye.

As Kana-chan stepped through the train doors, and they closed before the train spirited her far away, I noticed that it was easier to say goodbye to Kana-chan than it was to Akira, even though I might not see her for a while. Getting close to others again had caused me to realize the pain of being separated from them, just like losing my mom had been the most painful event of my life. Life went on, though, and as long as we were alive, we could form new connections, and perhaps one day reunite with those who had been separated from us. Kana-chan and Akira lived far away from me, but I believed that I would see them again someday soon.

I reached into my bag and took out my promise note for the month of March, one that I'd made by and for myself. There were several new promises that I'd thought of and added to the list- go to school, get regular exercise, talk to at least one person my age who wasn't a former Phantom Thief, and, of course, continue to be okay without Akira around. I'd grown enough to realize that being able to manage all this would be its own reward. Perhaps I could consider Akira's eventual return to be the reward for that, but I'd need to be able to fulfill all my promises to meet him with my head held high. As for being okay without him around, that wouldn't be finished until Akira returned, but I felt confident I fulfilled it this month, and checked it off.

I knew this wouldn't be easy- not many things in life that really mattered were- but I didn't think it was impossible, either. By forcing myself to broaden my horizons, I'd gained the courage to face anything life threw at me, and it was all thanks to the last promise I made with the guy I loved.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following this fic.

As a bit of self-promotion, if you enjoy a Persona story of love, overcoming separation and working toward a common goal together, you might also enjoy my Persona 4 fic, "One Year," a story of Yu and Yukiko maintaining a long-distance relationship as Yu settles back into his old school. I took a break from that fic to work on a NaNoWriMo project, but now that I'm finished with this, I'll getting back to "One Year" fairly soon.

It was a bit difficult, but I was able to reach 50,000 words on this fic, thereby fulfilling both of NaNoWriMo's goals- write 50,000 words and finish your novel.

 _Days until Akira returns: Many_.


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